Catholic Quotes & Inspiration
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    Abp. Charles J. Chaput
    Abp. Salvatore Cordileone
    Abp. Philip Hannan
    Abp. William E. Lori
    Abp. Oscar Romero
    Abp. Fulton Sheen
    Abp. Allen Vigneron
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky
    Bishop Maximus of Turin
    Cardinal Francis Arinze
    Cardinal Raymond Burke
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan
    Cardinal Francis George
    Cardinal John H. Newman
    Cardinal Marc Ouellet
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
    Carl A. Anderson
    Charles Carroll
    Cesar Chavez
    G.K. Chesterton
    Paul Claudel
    Dorothy Day
    Catherine de Hueck Doherty
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    Jason Evert
    Dietrich von Hildebrand
    Caryll Houselander
    Matthew Kelly
    Thomas à Kempis
    Peter Kreeft
    C.S. Lewis
    Jeanneane Maxon
    Thomas Merton
    Flannery O'Connor
    Janet Smith
    J.R.R. Tolkien
    Alexis de Tocqueville
    Evelyn Underhill
    Christopher West
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe
    Fr. Romano Guardini
    Fr. John Hardon
    Fr. John Lombardi
    Fr. Henri Nouwen
    Fr. Marie Dominique Philippe
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
    Blessed Titus Brandsma
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
    Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko
    Mother Angelica
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
    Pope Francis
    Blessed Pope John Paul II
    Pope John XXIII
    Pope Paul III
    Pope Paul VI
    Pope St. Clement
    Pope St. Gregory I
    Pope St. Gregory VII
    Pope St. Leo the Great
    Pope St. Pius X
    St. Agatha
    St. Agnes of Rome
    St. Alcuin
    St. Aloysius Gonzaga
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri
    St. Ambrose of Milan
    St. Angela Merici
    St. Anselm of Canterbury
    St. Anthony of Padua
    St. Anthony Mary Claret
    St. Athanasius the Great
    St. Augustine
    St. Bartholomew
    St. Basil the Great
    St. Benedict of Nursia
    St. Bernadette Soubirous
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux
    St. Bernardine of Siena
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
    St. Boniface
    St. Bridget of Sweden
    St. Brigid of Kildare
    St. Bruno
    St. Catherine of Genoa
    St. Catherine of Siena
    St. Charles Borromeo
    St. Clare of Assisi
    St. Claude de la Colombiere
    St. Colette of Corbie
    St. Columbanus
    St. Cyprian of Carthage
    St. Cyril
    St. Cyril of Alexandria
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem
    St. Damien of Molokai
    St. Daniel Comboni
    St. Dominic de Guzman
    St. Dominic Savio
    St. Edith Stein
    St. Edmund Campion
    St. Elizabeth of Hungary
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
    St. Emily de Vialar
    St. Ephrem of Syria
    St. Epiphanius of Salamis
    St. Eugene de Mazenod
    St. Faustina Kowalska
    St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen
    St. Frances Cabrini
    St. Francis of Assisi
    St. Francis of Paola
    St. Francis de Sales
    St. Francis Xavier
    St. Gabriel Possenti
    St. Gemma Galgani
    St. Genoveva Torres Morales
    St. Gerard Majella
    St. Gianna Beretta Molla
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus
    St. Gregory of Nyssa
    St. Hilary of Poitiers
    St. Hildegard of Bingen
    St. Hippolytus
    St. Ignatius of Antioch
    St. Ignatius of Loyola
    St. Irenaeus
    St. Isaac Jogues
    St. Isidore of Seville
    St. Jaime Hilario Barbal
    St. Jane Frances de Chantal
    St. Jeanne-Marie Kerguin
    St. Jerome
    St. Jerome Emiliani
    St. Joan of Arc
    St. John Bosco
    St. John of Avila
    St. John Chrysostom
    St. John of the Cross
    St. John of Damascus
    St. John Baptist de La Salle
    St. John Cantius
    St. John Climacus
    St. John Eudes
    St. John of God
    St. John Vianney
    St. Josaphat of Polotsk
    St. Josemaría Escrivá
    St. Joseph of Leonessa
    St. Josephine Bakhita
    St. Justin
    St. Kateri Tekakwitha
    St. Katharine Drexel
    St. Lawrence of Brindisi
    St. Leonard of Port Maurice
    St. Lucy
    St. Louis de Montfort
    St. Louise de Marillac
    St. Madeline Sophie Barat
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
    St. Marie-Victoire Couderc
    St. Mark the Ascetic
    St. Martin de Porres
    St. Martin of Tours
    St. Mary Hermina Grivot
    St. Mary MacKillop
    St. Mary Joseph Rosello
    St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi
    St. Maximilian Kolbe
    St. Melito of Sardis
    St. Monica
    St. Moses of Ethiopia
    St. Nicholas of Tolentino
    St. Patrick
    St. Paul of the Cross
    St. Paul Miki
    St. Peter of Alcantara
    St. Peter Chrysologus
    St. Peter Claver
    St. Peter Damian
    St. Peter Julian Eymard
    St. Philip Neri
    St. Philo of Alexandria
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino
    St. Polycarp of Smyrna
    St. Raphael Kalinowski
    St. Raymond of Penyafort
    St. Robert Bellarmine
    St. Romanos the Melodist
    St. Rose of Lima
    St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
    St. Scholastica
    St. Stephen of Hungary
    St. Teresa of Avila
    St. Theophilus of Antioch
    St. Therese of Lisieux
    St. Thomas Becket
    St. Thomas Aquinas
    St. Thomas More
    St. Thomas of Villanova
    St. Ursula Ledochowska
    St. Vincent of Lerins
    St. Vincent Pallotti
    St. Vincent de Paul
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  • Archbishop Charles J. ChaputOpen or Close

    “The worst enemies of religious freedom aren’t 'out there' among the critics who hate Christ or the Gospel or the Church, or all three. The worst enemies are in here, with us — all of us, clergy, religious and lay — when we live our faith with tepidness, cheap compromises, fear, routine, and hypocrisy.”
    fearfreedom

    “Let me tell you why I believe abortion is the crucial issue of our age. First, because abortion, too, is about living within the truth. The right to life is the foundation of every other human right. If that right is not inviolate, then no right can be guaranteed. Or to put it more bluntly: Homicide is homicide, no matter how small the victim.”
    abortion

    “It doesn't matter that some abortions have always occurred, or that some will always occur. If we really believe that abortion kills a developing, unborn human life, then we can never be satisfied with mere 'reductions' in the body count.”
    abortion

    “Access to inexpensive contraception is a problem nowhere in the United States. The (HHS) mandate is thus an ideological statement; the imposition of a preferential option for infertility. And if millions of Americans disagree with it on principle — too bad.”
    sexpolitics

    “There’s a special lesson in our current situation. Anyone who thinks that our country’s neuralgic sexuality issues can somehow be worked out respectfully in the public square in the years ahead, without a parallel and vigorous defense of religious freedom, had better think again.”
    sexpolitics

    “Nothing we do to defend the human person, no matter how small, is ever unfruitful or forgotten. Our actions touch other lives and move other hearts in ways we can never fully understand in this world. Don’t ever underestimate the beauty and power of the witness you give in your pro-life work.”
    lifediligence

    “The American experience of personal freedom and civil peace would be inconceivable without a religious grounding and a predominantly Christian inspiration. The reason is simple. What we believe about God shapes what we believe about man. And what we believe about man shapes what we believe about the purpose and proper structure of human society. So it should surprise no one the at the heart of American life is a Christian-informed tradition of what it means to be human.”
    culturepolitics

    “When it comes to politics, economics and social policy, the main duty of a bishop is to preach basic principles. Sometimes, on some pivotal issues, bishops need to be more engaged in the details of legislation. But, overall, Catholic witness in the secular world should be the work of prudent, faithful laypeople.”
    politicsvocation

    “If laypeople don’t love their Catholic faith enough to struggle for it in the public square, nothing the bishops do will finally matter.”
    sacrificevocation

  • Archbishop Salvatore CordileoneOpen or Close

    “To legalize marriage between two people of the same sex would enshrine in the law the principle that mothers and fathers are interchangeable or irrelevant, and that marriage is essentially an institution about adults, not children; marriage would mean nothing more than giving adults recognition and benefits in their most significant relationship.”
    marriagegender

    “Our bodies have meaning. The conjugal union of a man and a woman is not a factory to produce babies; marriage seeks to create a total community of love, a 'one flesh' union of mind, heart and body that includes a willingness to care for any children their bodily union makes together.”
    marriagechildren

    “There is a problem here — an injustice, really — in the way that some people are so often identified by what they are against. Opposition to same-sex marriage is a natural consequence of what we are for, i.e., preserving the traditional, natural understanding of marriage in the culture and in the law.”
    traditionculture

  • Archbishop Philip HannanOpen or Close

    “All problems are reducible to personal problems. If you solve those, you automatically take care of community problems.”
    conversionculture

    “Charity binds us to perfection.”
    charity

    “From my perspective... I will accomplish in death what I could not in life because as priests we are most fully alive when we die. If we don’t feel that way, we certainly have not served the cause of Christ as we were meant to. In the final spiritual analysis, to fulfill the will of God, a priest must die in life as did his own Son. And when that time comes, with the grace of God, I am ready.”
    deathvocation

  • Archbishop William E. LoriOpen or Close

    “Let us not shrink from entering the public square to proclaim the person of Christ, to teach the values that flow from reason and faith, to uphold our right to go about our daily work in accord with our teachings and values.”
    evangelization

    “We are recognizing that a culture of life is also a culture of freedom and that a culture of death is a culture of oppression, indeed a dictatorship of relativism…Through (Mary's) intercession, may we be given the wisdom, courage and strength we need to employ our God-given liberty to protect life, to strengthen the family and to continue contributing mightily to the common good of society for the good of our nation, for the up-building of the church and for the salvation of souls.”
    culturefreedom

    “When we arrive late for Mass, we forfeit almost any opportunity to put ourselves into a good frame of mind and heart for the Eucharist. We miss the chance to speak to the Lord in private prayer before Mass begins. We pass up the chance to recollect ourselves and to ask forgiveness for our sins that hinder us from opening our hearts to the redeeming love Jesus wants to share with us in and through the Eucharist.”
    liturgysalvation

    “If we were invited to a talk given by our favorite athlete or author, we'd make sure we didn't miss a word. Yet when the Lord comes to us in the power of the Holy Spirit to speak to us in the words of eternal life, we find ourselves a few blocks away from church, perhaps with music or news bombarding our senses.”
    worship

    “Participation in the Eucharistic prayer requires attentive listening to the Word of God. The Mass, after all, is not like a football game with two parts interrupted by a half-time show (the homily). Rather, the Mass is a single act of worship. By listening to the revealed Word of God in Scripture and by reflecting on its meaning for our lives, we are prepared to enter, heart and soul, into Christ's ultimate act of love — his saving death and glorious resurrection. We are prepared to experience, all over again, the depth of His love for us and for the whole Church to whom His loves unites us.”
    liturgyscripture

    “If we think of the Eucharist as the banquet of Christ's sacrifice, people who leave early choose not to linger with their 'host' and fellow guests. Instead, they rush back into the rough and tumble daily life with little or no opportunity to adore the one whom they have received, the one whose Spirit unites us to the Father and to one another.”
    eucharistpatience

    “I propose increased opportunities for Eucharistic adoration. Far from detracting from the celebration of the Eucharist and far from privatizing the Eucharist, Eucharistic adoration increases our capacity to believe in the Eucharistic mystery, to participate in its celebration with devotion and joy, and to go forth in charity to serve the needs of others.”
    adorationmystery

    “Eucharistic adoration prolongs the joy and gratitude we should feel at every Mass and gives us the opportunity to deepen our friendship with the Savior who loves us so profoundly.”
    adoration

    “If more Catholics spent more time in Eucharistic adoration, I think two things would happen: many who have abandoned the regular practice of the faith might well rediscover it. And those who have acquired the bad habit of arriving late for Mass and leaving early might want to linger instead — to spend time with the Lord who thirsts for our Love.”
    adorationconversion

  • Archbishop Oscar RomeroOpen or Close

    “A church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a Word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, what kind of gospel is that? Preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed do not light up the world.”
    faithsuffering

    “We must not seek the child Jesus in the pretty figures of our Christmas cribs. We must seek him among the undernourished children who have gone to bed at night with nothing to eat, among the poor newsboys who will sleep covered with newspapers in doorways.”
    childrencharity

    “Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty.”
    peace

    “If we are worth anything, it is not because we have more money or more talent, or more human qualities. Insofar as we are worth anything, it is because we are grafted on to Christ's life, his cross and resurrection. That is a person's measure.”
    pride

    “Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill'. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders. The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. ...In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression.”
    war

  • Archbishop Fulton SheenOpen or Close

    “Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.”
    culturejustice

    “When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.”
    marriagegender

    “The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white host.”
    eucharist

    “If you do not worship God, you worship something, and nine times out of ten it will be yourself. You have a duty to worship God, not because He will be imperfect and unhappy if you do not, but because you will be imperfect and unhappy.”
    joyworship

    “Never forget that there are only two philosophies to rule your life: the one of the cross, which starts with the fast and ends with the feast. The other of Satan, which starts with the feast and ends with the headache.”
    lent

    “We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or to plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God. Asceticism and mortification are not the ends of a Christian life; they are only the means. The end is charity. Penance merely makes an opening in our ego in which the Light of God can pour. As we deflate ourselves, God fills us. And it is GOD’s arrival that is the important event.”
    lent

    “Lenten practices of giving up pleasures are good reminders that the purpose of life is not pleasure. The purpose of life is to attain to perfect life, all truth and undying ecstatic love – which is the definition of God. In pursuing that goal we find happiness. Pleasure is not the purpose of anything; pleasure is a by-product resulting from doing something that is good. One of the best ways to get happiness and pleasure out of life is to ask ourselves, "How can I please God?' and, 'Why am I not better?' It is the pleasure-seeker who is bored, for all pleasures diminish with repetition.”
    lent

    “The proud man counts his newspaper clippings, the humble man his blessings.”
    pridehumility

    “There is no subject on which the average mind is so much confused as the subject of tolerance and intolerance. Tolerance applies only to persons, but never to principles. Intolerance applies only to principles, but never to persons.”
    tolerance

    “I am worried about America! I am not so much worried about its politics and economics, important though they be: I am worried about its soul. After all, politics and economics are determined by the sense of values which underlies them.”
    culturevirtue

    “Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals.”
    pride

    “It is not particularly difficult to find thousands who will spend two or three hours a day in exercising, but if you ask them to bend their knees to God in five minutes of prayer, they protest that it is too long.”
    healthprayer

    “Depression comes from not having faults but from refusal to face them. There are tens of thousands of persons today suffering from fears which in reality are nothing but the effects of hidden sin. The examination of conscience will cure us of self-deception. It will also cure us of depression!”
    fear

    “The denial of personal guilt makes men ready to surrender their liberty. Better it is for a man to realize he has evil tendencies which must be fought and combated in order that his higher self may emerge.”
    conversion

    “Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery.”
    love

    “Life is like a cash register, in that every account, every thought, every deed, like every sale, is registered and recorded.”
    justice

    “Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.”
    envy

    “Hearing nuns’ confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.”
    humorreconciliation

    “Baloney is flattery laid on so thick it cannot be true, and blarney is flattery so thin we love it.”
    deceit

    “Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have left.”
    charity

    “Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?”
    charitydiligencelove

    “There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing.”
    educationevangelization

  • Archbishop Allen VigneronOpen or Close

    “When you and I love God or one another, by virtue of our baptism, we love of the same quality as Christ.”
    lovebaptism

    “For a Catholic to receive Holy Communion and still deny the revelation Christ entrusted to the Church is to try to say two contradictory things at once: ‘I believe the Church offers the saving truth of Jesus, and I reject what the Church teaches.’ In effect, they would contradict themselves. This sort of behavior would result in publicly renouncing one’s integrity and logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury.”
    obedienceeucharist

    “The whole of the goodness of creation is found perfectly in Christ Jesus.”
    virtue

  • Bishop Daniel R. JenkyOpen or Close

    “The days in which we live now require heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead be Catholics by conviction.”
    culturefaith

    “For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God's great mercy in time will give way to God's perfect judgment in eternity.”
    obediencepolitics

    “No Catholic ministry — and yes, Mr. President, for Catholics our schools and hospitals are ministries — can remain faithful to the Lordship of the Risen Christ and to his glorious Gospel of Life if they are forced to pay for abortions.”
    abortionobedience

    “We have nothing to fear, but we have a world to win for Him. We have nothing to fear, for we have an eternal destiny in Heaven. We have nothing to fear, though the earth may quake, kingdoms may rise and fall, demons may rage, but St. Michael the Archangel, and all the hosts of heaven, fight on our behalf.”
    courage

    “In our own families, in our parishes, where we live and where we work — like that very first apostolic generation — we must be bold witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.”
    evangelizationsacrifice

    “Grounded in the power of the resurrection, there is nothing in this world, and nothing in Hell, that can ultimately defeat God’s one, true, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.”
    salvation

  • Bishop Maximus of TurinOpen or Close

    “At Jesus’ birth His mother Mary held her child close to her heart. So, today the Father holds His beloved Son for all people to adore. Jesus is baptized so all Christians may follow Him with confidence.”
    baptismfaith

    “All the martyrs are to be honored by us, but especially those whose relics we possess. They assist us by their prayers; they preserve us as to our bodies in this life, and receive us when we depart hence.”
    martyrs

    “That by the sign of Jesus Christ (devoutly used) a blessing is ensured to us in all things.”
    faith

  • Cardinal Francis ArinzeOpen or Close

    “Even among the married, sexual satisfaction must not be sought in a way which disregards man's character as a person and degrades him to the animal level.”
    marriagelust

    “Remarkable is the greater openness of the Catholic Church towards people of other religious traditions and persuasions. The development has not been without problems, since some people have resisted it and others have pushed openness beyond the desirable point.”
    ecumenism

    “With reference to other religions, the Church sees a great difference between them and herself. The other religions are expressions of the human soul seeking God, with some beautiful spiritual insights, but also not without errors. Christianity is rather God seeking humanity.”
    ecumenism

    “Get the children for first communion and say to them, somebody votes for the killing of unborn babies, and says, I voted for that, I will vote for that every time and these babies are killed, not one or two, but in millions, and that person says I am a practicing Catholic, should that person receive communion next Sunday? The children for first communion will answer that at the drop of a hat. You don’t need a cardinal to answer that.”
    abortioneucharist

    “Religion is one dimension of culture, a transcendent element of it.”
    dominion

    “Vatican II declares the Church... as necessary for salvation.”
    salvation

    “The Catholic faith never changes. But the language and mode of manifesting this one faith can change according to peoples, times and places.”
    tradition

    “Religion is one dimension of culture, a transcendent element of it.”
    dominion

    “The Holy Eucharist is the greatest treasure that the Church has on earth: It is Christ himself.”
    eucharist

  • Cardinal Raymond BurkeOpen or Close

    “Given the breakdown in family life, the wholesale attack on innocent and defenseless human lives, and the violation of the integrity of the union of marriage in our society, the call to the martyrdom of witness is ever more urgent.”
    abortionculture

    “Connected with our prayer must be the thoughtful and faithful reflection upon the Church's teaching on the respect for all human life and the integrity of the family. In our homes, in our Catholic schools and universities, in parish study groups, and in everyday conversations and discussions with our neighbors, we are called to give an uncompromising witness to the Gospel of Life. Parents, parish priests and institutions of Catholic education must be aware of the constant anti-life and anti-family messages which constantly bombard us and our young people.”
    familyeducation

    “You can't take a living reality, the worship of God as God has desired that we worship Him, and tamper with it without doing violence and without in some way damaging the faith life of the people.”
    liturgytradition

    “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”
    liturgytradition

  • Cardinal Timothy DolanOpen or Close

    “The major temptation is pride — it should not be I did it my way, but I did it Thy way. True happiness comes from humbly conforming to His will.”
    temptationpride

    “God is constantly revealing himself to us. He whispers to us, he doesn't shout — Advent invites us to listen and discover His grace and mercy.”
    adventmystery

    “Patriotism is a virtue. And the highest responsibility of love of country is to vote.”
    patriotism

    “If I only sat down with people who agreed with me, and I with them, or with those who were saints, I’d be taking all my meals alone.”
    tolerance

    “We cherish true freedom, not as the license to do whatever we want, but the liberty to do what we ought.”
    freedom

    “Neither I nor anyone in the Church would ever tolerate hatred of or prejudice towards any of the Lord's children.”
    tolerance

    “We must never allow September 11th to become a time for protest and division. Instead, this day must remain a time for promoting peace and mutual respect.”
    peace

  • Cardinal Francis GeorgeOpen or Close

    “The world divorced from the God who created and redeemed it inevitably comes to a bad end. It’s on the wrong side of the only history that finally matters.”
    apostasy

    “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.”
    martyrsculture

    “We should be concerned as well about the State overreaching its proper authority, which is limited to the civil order. Neither the church nor the state 'own' the institution of marriage. The state has a right to supervise but not to redefine an institution it did not create. This tendency for the government to claim for itself authority over all areas of human experience flows from the secularization of our culture. If God cannot be part of public life, then the state itself plays God. There are many paths to total state control of life — fascism, totalitarianism, communism. In the United States, the path is labeled ‘protection of individual rights.’”
    marriagepolitics

  • Cardinal John Henry NewmanOpen or Close

    “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”
    virtue

    “Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall never have a beginning.”
    fear

    “We all suffer for each other, and gain by each other's suffering; for man never stands alone here, though he will stand alone hereafter; but here is he is a social being, and goes forward to his long home as one of a large company.”
    sufferingfamilyfriends

    “Conscience has rights because it has duties.”
    diligence

    “To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living.”
    faith

    “Right reason, that is, reason rightly exercised, leads the mind to the Catholic faith, and plants it there, and teaches it in all its religious speculations to act under its guidance.”
    education

    “Learn to do thy part and leave the rest to Heaven.”
    diligencehumility

    “I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, But God declared: 'Go down again — I dwell among the people.'"
    humility

    “If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable...we must be content to creep along the ground, and can never soar.”
    humilityfaith

    “Faith is illuminative, not operative; it does not force obedience, though it increases responsibility; it heightens guilt, but it does not prevent sin. The will is the source of action.”
    faith

    “Faith ventures and hazards...counting the costs and delighting in the sacrifice.”
    faithsacrifice

    “The love of our private friends is the only preparatory exercise for the love of all men.”
    lovefriends

    “Calculation never made a hero.”
    courage

    “If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.”
    courage

    “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.”
    conversioneducation

    “Faith is the result of the act of the will, following upon a conviction that to believe is a duty.“
    faith

    “Courage does not consist in calculation, but in fighting against chances.”
    courage

    “It is almost the definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain”
    genderkindness

    “Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.”
    diligencepatience

    “When men understand what each other mean, they see, for the most part, that controversy is either superfluous or hopeless”
    empathy

    “Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.”
    evil

    “A great memory does not make a mind any more than a dictionary is a piece of literature.”
    education

    “Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not... We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.”
    truth

    “Nothing is more common than for men to think that because they are familiar with words they understand the ideas they stand for.”
    education

    “We must make up our minds to be ignorant of much, if we would know anything.”
    education

    “Virtue is its own reward, and brings with it the truest and highest pleasure; but if we cultivate it only for pleasure's sake, we are selfish, not religious, and will never gain the pleasure, because we can never have the virtue.”
    virtue

    “Regarding Christianity, ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.”
    trust

    “It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment but not in matters of conscience.”
    conversion

    “We should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend.”
    friendsevangelization

    “It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.”
    evangelization

    “God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission — I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.”
    diligence

    “With Christians, a poetical view of things is a duty. We are bid to color all things with hues of faith, to see a divine meaning in every event.”
    faith

    “Purity prepares the soul for love, and love confirms the soul in purity.”
    love

  • Cardinal Marc OuelletOpen or Close

    “I understand very well that a woman who has been raped is in distress and must be helped. But she needs that (help), while keeping in mind the being inside her. She's not responsible for what's happened to her — the rapist is. But there's already been one victim. Do we need to make a second one?... Taking someone else's life is always a moral crime.”
    abortion

    “As members of the Church, we must have the courage to ask humbly for God’s pardon, as well as for the forgiveness of those who have been wounded: we must remain close to them on their road of suffering, seeking in every possible way to heal and bind up the wounds following the example of the Good Samaritan.”
    reconciliationmercy

  • Cardinal Gianfranco RavasiOpen or Close

    “The risk of indifference, which is the hallmark of contemporary society, is to ignore, to remain inert.”
    toleranceculture

    “Hope is the 'little sister' of faith and charity.”
    hope

    “The prophets pointed the finger at the abuses of power and the resignation of injustice.”
    scripturejustice

    “Faith answers why, science how.”
    faithscience

    “If the word of God is love, then one who has read and prayed over the word must incarnate love. It must lead to communion, solidarity and dialogue.”
    scripturelove

    “Oftentimes this fear (of dialogue) stems from the fact that the person doesn’t feel capable of defending or justifying his own reasons, hence he doesn’t want to listen to the other.”
    feardialogue

    “God tenderly gathers all the tears of the suffering and are stored in his chest, as if they were precious stones.”
    mercy

    “Brotherly love is a dewy freshness and aridity in the monotony of personal and community life.”
    familyculture

    “The priest is a fragile person with his baggage of guilt and misery that await God's forgiveness and conversion.”
    vocationsalvation

    “Why do you have to pray? Why do you have to breathe? Because otherwise I'd die.”
    prayer

    “The love of man and woman, capable of generating life, is a sign that points to God.”
    marriagechildren

    “Faith is a gift, but also, at the same time, an achievement.”
    faith

    “Faith also includes the absence, the silence, the shock.”
    faith

    “Prayer is not mere emotion, it must involve reason and will, thought and passion, truth and action.”
    prayer

  • Cardinal Luis Antonio TagleOpen or Close

    “Events in our world show the tragic effects of the lack of listening: conflicts in families, gaps between generations and nations, and violence. People are trapped in a milieu of monologues, inattentiveness, noise, intolerance, and self-absorption. The Church can provide a milieu of dialogue, respect, mutuality and self-transcendence.”
    dialogue

    “The Church must discover the power of silence. Confronted with the sorrows, doubts and uncertainties of people she cannot pretend to give easy solutions. In Jesus, silence becomes the way of attentive listening, compassion and prayer. It is the way to truth.”
    empathy

    “God speaks and the Church, as servant, lends its voice to the Word. But God does not only speak. God also listens especially to the just, widows, orphans, persecuted, and the poor who have no voice. The Church must learn to listen the way God listens and must lend its voice to the voiceless.”
    empathy

    “It is sad that those who worship idols sacrifice other people while preserving themselves and their interests. How many factory workers are being denied the right wages for the god of profit? How many women are being sacrificed to the god of domination? How many children are being sacrificed to the god of lust? How many trees, rivers, hills are being sacrificed to the god of 'progress'? How many poor people are being sacrificed to the god of greed? How many defenseless people are being sacrificed to the god of national security?”
    sinworship

    “The Church’s humility, respectfulness and silence might reveal more clearly the face of God in Jesus.”
    faithhumility

    “You'll never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You'll never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
    joylife

  • Carl A. AndersonOpen or Close

    “As Catholics, we must stop picking and choosing which parts of Catholic social teaching we will accept, and we must insist that our politicians stop doing this as well.”
    obediencepolitics

    “Let us be clear: we value religious liberty not only because it protects our personal autonomy. We value religious liberty because of the good which religion brings into the life of the individual believer and into the life of our nation.
    freedomfaith

    “Every great religious renewal in America has led to an advance in civil rights — from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to the end of slavery and the pursuit of racial equality.

    But all of this has been achieved in the face of established power structures strongly and often violently opposed to these rights.”
    faithpolitics

  • Charles CarrollOpen or Close

    “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”
    culturevirtue

    “On the mercy of my redeemer I rely for salvation and on his merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to his precepts.”
    mercy

    “I deem it my duty to call your attention to the shortness of this life, and the certainty of death, and the dreadful judgment we must all undergo, and on the decision of which a happy or a miserable eternity depends. The impious has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' He would willingly believe there is no God; the passions, the corruptions of his heart would fain persuade him there is none. The stings of conscience betray the emptiness of the delusion; the heavens proclaim the existence of God, and unperverted reason teaches that He must love virtue and hate vice, and reward the one and punish the other.”
    apostasyjustice

    “In improving your mind, remember your God. The fear of the Lord, says the wise man, is the beginning of wisdom; without virtue there can be no happiness; and without religion, no virtue; consider yourself as always in the presence of the Almighty.”
    fearvirtue

    “God grant that religious liberty may be preserved in these (United) states to the end of time, and that all who believe in the religion of Christ may practice the leading principle of charity, the basis of every other virtue.”
    freedomvirtue

  • Cesar ChavezOpen or Close

    “It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men.”
    sacrifice

    “If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart.”
    friendskindness

    “Real education should consist of drawing the goodness and the best out of our own students.” What better books can there be than the book of humanity?”
    education

    “In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.”
    peace

    “When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are. ”
    life

    “It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.”
    lifejustice

  • G.K. ChestertonOpen or Close

    “The answer to the question 'What's wrong with the world?' is just two words: 'I am.'”
    sin

    “Most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.”
    freedomfear

    “Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”
    education

    “I don't need a church to tell me I'm wrong where I already know I'm wrong; I need a Church to tell me I'm wrong where I think I'm right.”
    obedience

    “Modesty is always beautiful.”
    humility

    “Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.”
    humilityhumor

    “He is a sane man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head.”
    hopehumor

    “Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.”
    greed

    “Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist. but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
    conversion

    “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”
    courage

    “The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice.”
    truthvirtue

    “Truth is stranger than fiction because we create fiction to suit our fancy.”
    truth

    “It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.”
    pride

    “It’s not that we don’t have enough scoundrels to curse; it’s that we don’t have enough good men to curse them.”
    evangelization

    “Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”
    culturetruth

    “The modern mind will accept nothing on authority, but will accept anything on no authority. Say that the Bible or the Pope says so and it will be dismissed without further examination. But preface your remark with 'I think I heard somewhere,' or, try but fail to remember the name of some professor who might have said 'such-and-such,' and it will be immediately accepted as an unshakable fact.”
    truth

    “I doubt if anyone of any tenderness or imagination can see the hand of a child and not be a little frightened of it. It is awful to think of the essential human energy moving so tiny a thing; it is like imagining that human nature could live in the wing of a butterfly or the leaf of a tree. When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that [God] might feel.”
    childrenfear

  • Paul ClaudelOpen or Close

    “Intelligence is nothing without delight.”
    educationjoy

    “Truth has nothing to do with the number of people it convinces.”
    truthculture

    “God did not come to explain suffering, He came to fill it with His presence.”
    mercy

  • Dorothy DayOpen or Close

    “Those who cannot see the face of Christ in the poor are atheists indeed.”
    charity

    “It is the living from day to day, taking no thought for the morrow, seeing Christ in all who come to us, and trying literally to follow the Gospel that resulted in this work.”
    faith

    “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”
    love

    “Don't worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth.”
    obedience

    “I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.”
    deceit

    “You will know your vocation by the joy that it brings you. You will know. You will know when it's right.”
    joyvocation

    “We must talk about poverty, because people insulated by their own comfort lose sight of it.”
    charity

    “To love with understanding and without understanding. To love blindly, and to folly. To see only what is loveable. To think only of these things. To see the best in everyone around, their virtues rather than their faults. To see Christ in them!”
    love

    “Charity is only as warm as those who administer it.”
    charitykindness

    “I firmly believe that our salvation depends on the poor.”
    charity

    “As for ourselves, yes, we must be meek, bear injustice, malice, rash judgment. We must turn the other cheek, give up our cloak, go a second mile.”
    patiencetolerance

    “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”
    conversion

    “We cannot build up the idea of the apostolate of the laity without the foundation of the liturgy.””
    liturgy culture

    “Don't call me a saint. I don't want to be dismissed so easily.”
    humility

    “Men are beginning to realize that they are not individuals but persons in society, that man alone is weak and adrift, that he must seek strength in common action.”
    culture

    “Our faith is stronger than death, our philosophy is firmer than flesh, and the spread of the Kingdom of God upon the earth is more sublime and more compelling.”
    faith

    “We believe in loving our brothers regardless of race, color or creed and we believe in showing this love by working for better conditions immediately and the ultimate owning by the workers of their means of production”
    charity

    “Words are as strong and powerful as bombs, as napalm.”
    dialogue

    “I believe that we must reach our brother, never toning down our fundamental oppositions, but meeting him when he asks to be met, with a reason for the faith that is in us, as well as with a loving sympathy for them as brothers.”
    evangelization

    “Love casts out fear, but we have to get over the fear in order to get close enough to love them.”
    fearlove

    “It is easier to have faith that God will support each House of Hospitality and Farming Commune and supply our needs in the way of food and money to pay bills, than it is to keep a strong, hearty, living faith in each individual around us — to see Christ in him.”
    faith

    “The legal battle against segregation is won, but the community battle goes on.”
    politicsculture

    “When we have spiritual reading at meals, when we have the rosary at night, when we have study groups, forums, when we go out to distribute literature at meetings, or sell it on the street corners, Christ is there with us.”
    grace

  • Catherine de Hueck DohertyOpen or Close

    “Advent is such a beautiful season. It is a time for renewal; it is especially a time for forgiveness, because God brings his forgiveness to us in the shape of his Son.”
    adventreconciliation

    “We are in Advent. We remember that a woman held in her arms a child, and that child was God. If we remember that, then we are givers of peace, we are lovers of the Beloved. We own him through love. And he owns us! the most extraordinary thing in the world is that God loves you and me!”
    adventlove

  • Fyodor DostoyevskyOpen or Close

    “Compassion is the most important and perhaps the only law of all humanity.”
    empathymercy

    “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”
    lovesacrifice

    “Christ said, 'Go and give all you have to the poor and become the servant of all,' for if you do that, you'll become a thousand times richer because your happiness won't be made just of good food, rich clothes, satisfied vanity, and appeased envy. Instead it will be built on love, love multiplied by love without end. And then you will gain not just riches, but the whole world!”
    charity

    “Today we amass material things without ever satisfying our greed, and then we madly squander all we have amassed. But a day will come when there will be no orphans, no beggars; everyone will be as one of my own family, everyone will be my brother or sister, and that is when I will have gained everything and everyone!”
    greed

  • Jason EvertOpen or Close

    “Don't worry about finding your soul mate. Find yourself.”
    love

    “Without question, purity is beautiful. We're not talking about repression or prudishness, but about having a confident and serene sense of your dignity and worth.”
    chastity

  • Dietrich von HildebrandOpen or Close

    “Simplicity is the seal of verity.”
    truth

    “Surrender to sexual desire for its own sake defiles a man in a way that gluttony, for example, can never do. It wounds him to the core of his being, and he becomes in an absolutely different and novel fashion guilty of sin.”
    lustsin

    “God, and not a boundless search for ‘pleasure,’ should always be king of the bedroom.”
    lust

  • Caryll HouselanderOpen or Close

    “The way to begin healing the wounds of the world is to treasure the Infant Christ in us; to be not the castle but the cradle of Christ; and, in rocking that cradle to the rhythm of love, to swing the whole world back into the beat of the Music of Eternal Life.”
    culture

    “Advent is the season of the secret, the secret of the growth of Christ, of divine love growing in silence…For nine months, Christ grew in his mother's body. By his own will, she formed him from herself, from the simplicity of her daily life.”
    adventmary

    “We must carry Jesus in our hearts to wherever He wants to go, and there are many places to which He may never go unless we take Him to them. None of us knows when the loveliest hour of our life is striking. It may be when we take Christ for the first time to that grey office in the city where we work, to the wretched lodging of that poor man who is an outcast, to the nursery of that pampered child, to that battleship, airfield, or camp..”
    evangelizationtrust

    “By his own will Christ was dependent on Mary during Advent: he was absolutely helpless; he could go nowhere but where she chose to take him; he could not speak; her breathing was his breath; his heart beat in the beating of her heart. In the seasons of our Advent — waking, working, eating, sleeping, being — each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world.”
    advent Mary

  • Matthew KellyOpen or Close

    “Prayer is like a great love. When you start dating the silence can be awkward, but as you grow to know each other you can sit in silence for hours and just being with each other is a great comfort.”
    prayer

    “It has been my experience that nothing changes a person’s life more than the discovery of one solitary truth: There is a meaning and purpose to life. More specifically: There is a meaning and purpose to your life.”
    virtue

    “On the one hand, we all want to be happy. On the other hand, we all know the things that make us happy. But we don’t do those things. Why? Simple. We are too busy. Too busy doing what? Too busy trying to be happy. This is the paradox of happiness that has bewitched our age.”
    joy

    “A great purposelessness has descended upon modern civilizations. People at large have lost any sense of the meaning and purpose of life; and without an understanding of our own purpose, there can be no true commitment. Whether that commitment is to marriage, family, study, work, God, relationships, or the simple resolutions of our lives, it will be almost impossible to fulfill without a clear and practical understanding of our purpose. Commitment and purpose go hand in hand.”
    culturevirtue

  • Thomas à KempisOpen or Close

    “You have yet many things which you must give up, and unless you resign them entirely to God you will not obtain that which you ask.”
    sacrificefaith

    “Be thankful for the least gift, so shalt thou be meant to receive greater.”
    gratitude

    “For man proposes, but God disposes.”
    humility

    “Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God.”
    sufferinglent

    “At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done.”
    educationdiligence

    “Set aside an opportune time for deep personal reflection, and think often about God's many benefits to you. Give up all light and frivolous matters, and read what inspires you to repentance of soul and not just what entertains the mind.

    If you abstain from unnecessary conversation and useless visiting, as well as from listening to idle news and gossip, you will find sufficient and suitable time for your meditations. The great saints avoided the company of men as much as they could, because they wanted to live for God in silence. ”
    prayertemptation

    “Without the Way,
    there is no going,
    Without the Truth,
    there is no knowing,
    Without the Life,
    there is no living.”
    humility

    “Endeavor to be always patient of the faults and imperfections of others for thou has many faults and imperfections of thine own that require forbearance. If thou are not able to make thyself that which thou wishest, how canst thou expect to mold another in conformity to thy will?”
    humilitypatience

    “If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him.”
    grace

    “The good devout man first makes inner preparation for the actions he has later to perform. His outward actions do not draw him into lust and vice; rather it is he who bends them into the shape of reason and right judgement. Who has a stiffer battle to fight than the man who is striving to conquer himself.”
    conversion

    “Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself?”
    freedom

    “First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”
    peace

    “Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”
    tolerance

  • Peter KreeftOpen or Close

    “Lack of prayer is the cause of lack of time.”
    prayer

    “Two places you're guaranteed a miracle: the altar and the womb.”
    eucharistchildren

    “There is one and only one possible road to joy: selfless love.”
    joylove

    “Being a Christian is more like having your soul possessed by a spirit than having your mind clothed with new beliefs... It is like being haunted by the Holy Ghost.”
    faith

    “Peace is a mark of the Holy Spirit.”
    peacetrinity

    “God writes the story of our lives with the pen strokes of our own free choices.”
    freedom

    “Humility is not an exaggeratedly low opinion of yourself. Humility is self-forgetfulness.”
    humility

    “Feelings come to us, passively; love comes from us, actively, by our free choice.”
    lovefreedom

    “If God is not a Trinity, God is not love. For love requires three things: a lover, a beloved, and a relationship between them.”
    lovetrinity

    “I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers to God make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those effects down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.”
    prayer

  • C.S. LewisOpen or Close

    “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
    faith

    “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
    joypeace

    “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.”
    conversionholy trinity

    “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
    virtue

    “Badness cannot succeed even in being bad in the same way in which goodness is good. Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness. Evil is a parasite, not an original thing.”
    evil

    “This is one of the miracles of love: It gives a power of seeing through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted.”
    love

    “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one!”
    friends

    “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
    truth

    “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
    faith

  • Jeanneane MaxonOpen or Close

    “We have gone from a world in which women and girls were told they cannot succeed out of the home to a world in which they are told they can't succeed outside of the home without abortion. But women do not need abortion to succeed.”
    abortiongendervocation

    “The abortion industry has allowed women to be harmed physically, mentally and socially by telling them to deny their true potential and insisting they choose either work or family, because they'll never succeed at both.”
    abortiongendervocation

  • Thomas MertonOpen or Close

    “If you want to study the social and political history of modern nations, study hell.”
    evilpolitics

    “When ambition ends, happiness begins.”
    joy

    “We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.”
    peace

    “Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.”
    peacediligence

    “We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have — for their usefulness.”
    diligencepride

    “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”
    lovepride

    “We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen.”
    sin

    “The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.”
    sintruth

    “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”
    love

    “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.”
    love

    “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.”
    love

    “If we really want prayer, we'll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we'll begin to have time to listen. And as soon as we listen to what's going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves....The best way to pray is: Stop. Let prayer pray within you, whether you know it or not.”
    patienceprayer

  • Flannery O'ConnorOpen or Close

    “Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.”
    faith

    “There are long periods in the lives of all of us, and of the saints, when the truth as revealed by faith is hideous, emotionally disturbing, downright repulsive.”
    truth

    “Discovering the Church is apt to be a slow procedure but it can only take place if you have a free mind and no vested interest in disbelief.”
    conversion

    “Part of Purgatory must be the realization of how little it would have to take to make a vice into a virtue.”
    conversion

    “When tenderness is detached from the source of tenderness, its logical outcome is terror. It ends in forced-labor camps and in the fumes of the gas chamber.”
    kindnessevil

    “One of the tendencies of our age is to use the suffering of children to discredit the goodness of God, and once you have discredited his goodness, you are done with him.”
    mercy

    “Violence is a force which can be used for good or evil, and among other things taken by it is the kingdom of heaven.”
    wrath

    “More than ever now it seems that the kingdom of heaven has to be taken by violence, or not at all. You have to push as hard as the age that pushes against you.”
    wrath

    “The Communion of Saints has something to do with the fact that the burdens we bear because of someone else, we can also bear for someone else.”
    sacrifice

    “In a sense sickness is a place, more instructive than a long trip to Europe, and it's always a place where there's no company, where nobody can follow. Sickness before death is a very appropriate thing and I think those who don't have it miss one of God's mercies.”
    deathmercy

    “I don't think purity is mere innocence; I don't think babies and idiots possess it. I take it to be something that comes either with experience or with Grace so that it can never be naïve.”
    gracevirtue

  • Janet SmithOpen or Close

    “Abortion is a denial of one of those powers which make women women.”
    abortiongender

    “You may be surprised to learn that, in our law, although the fetus is currently without the right to life, it does have some rights. For instance, under civil law, the unborn child has the right to inherit part of his father’s estate should his father die before he is born, and he has the right to sue his mother, or a doctor, for injuiries sustained while in the womb.”
    abortionpolitics

    “We live in a culture in which condoms can be handed out in schools and Bibles can’t. And I think that tells you everything you need to know about our society.”
    culturesex

    “A woman who sets her rights, the supposed right to privacy or right over her own body, above the life of another human being is saying that a woman’s rights are superior to human rights. She has put herself above the human race, she has made herself the executor over life and death. Is that a woman’s right?”
    abortiongender

    “We need to realize that a society in which contraceptives are widely used is going to have a very difficult time keeping free of abortions since the lifestyles and attitudes that contraception fosters create an alleged 'need' for abortion.”
    abortionculture

    “Now, this is the most amazing thing when you think about it. Sperm, this little sperm, it does not have an immortal soul. And the ovum, you see, it does not have an immortal soul. And when the two come together, where does that immortal soul come from? The sperm doesn’t carry it. The egg doesn’t carry it. Where does it come from? It comes from a new act of creation by God. In each act of conception, there needs to be a new act of creation by God.”
    sexchildren

    “What is the purpose and meaning and nature of sexual intercourse? It seems to me to be quite clear. It’s for two things. It’s for babies and it’s for bonding. And that’s what happens when you have sexual intercourse — you have babies and you bond. My view is, if you don’t want to have babies and you don’t want to bond, then you shouldn’t be having sexual intercourse.”
    sexchastitychildrenmarriage

  • J.R.R. TolkienOpen or Close

    “It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.”
    diligence

    “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
    diligence

    “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
    greed

    “He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.”
    wrath

    “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth.”
    eucharistsacraments

    “The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion. Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals.”
    eucharistsacramentsfaith

  • Alexis de TocquevilleOpen or Close

    “Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
    freedomfaith

    “Religion does not give (Americans) their taste for freedom. It singularly facilitates their use of it.”
    freedomfaith

    “When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.”
    education

  • Evelyn UnderhillOpen or Close

    “Delicate humor is the crowning virtue of the saints.”
    humor

    “After all it is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life.”
    hope

    “All things are perceived in the light of charity, and hence under the aspect of beauty; for beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love.”
    charitylove

    “Christian history looks glorious in retrospect; but it is made up of constant hard choices and unattractive tasks, accepted under the pressure of the Will of God.”
    sacrifice

  • Christopher WestOpen or Close

    “Grace flows through wounds.”
    couragegrace

    “Holiness is not first a matter of doing anything. It is first and foremost a matter of letting it be done. Holiness is to conceive the love of God within and to bring it forth to the world.”
    faith patience

    “If we want to know what’s most sacred in this world, all we need to do is look for what is most violently profaned.”
    culture

    “Marital love is a reflection of how God loves. It is free, total, faithful and fruitful.”
    marriage love

    “Marriage is the most basic expression of the vocation to love that all men and women have as persons made in God’s image.”
    marriage love

    “Marriage is a living sign that truly communicates the love of Christ and the Church.”
    marriage love

    “The free exchange of consent properly witnessed by the Church establishes the marriage bond. Sexual union consummates it — seals it, completes it, perfects it. Sexual union, then, is where the words of the wedding vows become flesh.”
    marriage lovesex

    “In the sacraments, spirit and matter 'kiss.' Heaven and earth embrace in a union that will never end.”
    sacraments

    “The Church’s basic moral principle regarding reproductive technologies is this: if a given technology assists the marital embrace in achieving its natural end, it can be morally acceptable, even praiseworthy. However, if it replaces the marital embrace as the means by which the child is conceived, it’s not in keeping with God’s design.”
    marriage childrensexparents

    “The idea that ‘preaching the Gospel’ has nothing to do with sex and that ‘preaching about sex’ has nothing to do with the Gospel betrays layers and layers of seriously misguided thinking. When we divorce God’s love from sexual love, as Pope Benedict says, ‘the essence of Christianity’ becomes ‘decisively cut off from the complex fabric of human life.’ (God is Love 7). The ‘gospel’ then becomes cold, aloof, inhuman. In other words, we’re no longer preaching the real Gospel.”
    lustsexscripture

  • Fr. Pedro ArrupeOpen or Close

    “Today our (Society of Jesus) prime educational objective must be to form men (and women) for others; men (and women) who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ — for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men (and women) who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men (and women) completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.”
    vocationsacrifice

    “Only by being a man (or woman) for others does one become fully human.”
    sacrifice

    “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
    love

    “Ultimately we must understand the need to be agents of change.”
    justice

    “More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This (illness) is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.”
    healthdominion

  • Fr. Romano GuardiniOpen or Close

    “Truth is power, but only when one has patience and requires of it no immediate effect. And one must have no specific aims. Somehow, lack of an agenda is the greatest power. Sometimes it is better not to think in terms of plans; here months may mean nothing, and also years. Truth must be sought for its own sake, its holy, divine greatness.”
    truthpatience

    “The Church is not an institution devised and built at table, but a living reality. She lives along the course of time by transforming Herself, like any living being, yet Her nature remains the same. At Her heart is Christ.”
    tradition

    “The word is a thing of mystery, so volatile that it vanishes almost on the lip, yet so powerful that it decides fates and determines the meaning of existence. A frail structure shaped by fleeting sound, it yet contains the eternal: truth. Words come from within, rising as sounds fashioned by the organs of a man's body, as expressions of his heart and spirit. He utters them, yet he does not create them, for they already existed independently of him. One word is related to another; together they form the great unity of language, that empire of truth-forms in which a man lives.”
    dialogue

    “On entering a church, or in passing before the altar, kneel down all the way without haste or hurry, putting your heart into what you do, and let your whole attitude say, Thou art the great God. It is an act of humility, an act of truth, and everytime you kneel it will do your soul good.”
    humilityworship

  • Fr. John HardonOpen or Close

    “The Holy Eucharist is our most powerful prayer.”
    eucharistprayer

    “We are so accustomed to praying at the Sacrifice of the Mass, praying when we receive Holy Communion, and praying before the Blessed Sacrament, that we are liable to forget, and what a lapse of memory this would be, that before, long before, we attach prayer to the Eucharist, we should identify the Holy Eucharist as prayer. It is, and not just the indefinite article 'A' prayer, it is 'THE' prayer. In fact, the most powerful source of grace we have on earth.”
    eucharistprayer

    “Our duty as Catholics is to know the truth; to live the truth; to defend the truth; to share the truth with others; and to suffer for the truth.”
    truth

    “The Holy Eucharist is the principle Sacrament. The other six Sacraments are directed to the Eucharist.”
    eucharistsacraments

    “The Mass gives grace just because the Mass is offered.”
    graceliturgy

    “Ask our Lord to inspire all priests to daily offer the Sacrifice of the Mass. If a Mass is not offered, only God knows how many... millions are deprived of the grace they would have received had the Mass been offered.”
    liturgy

    “The most potent prayer before God is the prayer of action.”
    diligenceprayer

    “The most fundamental need we have in our lives is to beg God for His forgiveness.”
    reconciliation

    “If we are going to stop the demonic plague of abortion, we must receive the two sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession, and often, because the principle source of grace on earth is the Holy Eucharist. But we must receive the Holy Communion in the state of grace, otherwise we commit another mortal sin of sacrilege.”
    abortionsacraments

    “God has allowed the plague of abortion, I hope you will believe me, because of our sins, and don't change the phenomenal adjective, because of 'OUR' sins, yours and mine.”
    abortionsin

    “The fifth commandment is being so widely ignored and openly denied. Innocent children are being murdered, and the laws of once civilized nations like our own legalize murder. Why? The main single reason is because unchaste people are cruel people. Only chaste people are loving people.”
    abortionsin

    “If we are going to obtain the grace that a homicidal world needs to be converted, we must ourselves live lives of virtue. No ordinary virtue will do. It must be heroic virtue. Could you be more specific? Sure. What virtue do we especially have to practice? The virtue of chastity.”
    evangelizationchastity

    “What abortion is telling us is to wake up to the sacredness of human life. It must be very, very sacred if God became man to assume human life. And God, for all eternity, has a human life... God assumed human life at the incarnation.”
    abortion

    “Among the truths of our faith, there is none more precious, more important, than what Christ tells us is the precious, priceless value of suffering.”
    suffering

    “A Christian never runs away from the cross, which is just the opposite of the philosophy of this world.”
    suffering

    “We know that suffering is not something to be rejected. It is rather something which God wants us to accept. Every human being suffers.”
    suffering

    “The happiest people on earth are those who do not run away from suffering.”
    joysuffering

    “The happiest people on earth, hear it, are the holiest people. The most unhappy are the most sinful.”
    joyvirtue

    “So killing the incurably ill or the dying, and that can be as you know, the killing of one’s self, or the killing of others.”
    death

    “And by now the world has invented an ocean of ways of substituting, or trying to substitute, for the absence of happiness in sinners.”
    culturesin

    “What is the underlying philosophy behind the growing practice of killing the incurably ill and the dying. Behind this practice is the philosophy which ignores or denies the value of suffering.”
    deathsacrifice

    “Every time we perform a good action we increase the grace in our souls. That's the Divine Justice. And, correspondingly, every good action we perform, deserves from God, and He always rewards, with happiness.”
    diligencegrace

    “The Divine Justice, therefore, has not changed. And when we say justice, let's be sure we are clear. The divine justice applies both to our good actions and to our sinful actions. God is just in rewarding our good actions, always.”
    justice

    “And in the same way, just as God's justice removes grace from the sinner in the measure of the sin committed, God's justice always sends suffering and pain as a consequence of  sin, so conversely, for the practice of virtue, God always rewards in strict justice every good action we perform with doing what? With giving us grace.”
    gracejustice

    “The greatest joy on earth is to suffer for the one you love, especially for the God whom I love so deeply. And I show Him how much I love Him by following His example. He suffered and died out of love for me, and that is not a pious statement; it’s real.”
    lovesuffering

    “What is a more fundamental error underlying what is called euthanasia? A more fundamental error is the blasphemous attitude which these people think that they can control life and death by taking the decisions into their own hands. Only God has a right to determine who will be conceived and born.”
    abortiondeath

    “Consequently, if every sin has consequences, murder surely does. The first consequence therefore is the loss of grace. And our faith teaches us every deliberate homicide is a mortal sin and deprives the person who takes the human life of another person, deprives the murderer of his or her supernatural life. Abortion therefore is always, comma, always, comma, always a mortal sin.”
    abortionsin

    “The price of heaven is carrying the cross.”
    suffering

    “Our principle duty as Christians is to prepare others to live holy lives in today's unholy world.”
    evengelization

    “Never question God's dealings with you. Respect God's work in your soul with silence.”
    trust

    “The present Holy Father (at that time, Pope John Paul II) has been luminously clear, that when we speak of the Eucharist as a Sacrament, we should always, and from now on without failing, understand by that statement that the Eucharist is a Sacrament, to mean that it is a three-fold Sacrament.  As the Pope tells us, the Eucharist is a sacrifice sacrament, a communion sacrament, and presence sacrament.  Keeping always in mind the moment we use the word Sacrament as Catholics, we mean something in the sensibly perceptible order that signifies the conferral of grace and that produces, that's the Catholic verb, produces, the grace it signifies.”
    eucharistsacraments

    “The Divine attribute of justice, God's justice, is never disobeyed without consequences.  And let's be clear:  as our faith teaches us, the consequence of every sin is always two-fold.  One effect is what we call guilt.  Guilt, theologically speaking, has nothing to do with an emotional state of mind.  The essence of guilt as the Catholic Church understands it, the essence of guilt is a loss of grace.”
    justice

    “If we are going to obtain the grace for a world that has become intoxicated with pride and intoxicated with lust, we ourselves must live lives of above average sanctity. By living lives of prayer as we have never done before, by receiving the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist, frequently, and with resounding emphasis, living lives of honest to God chastity.”
    gracesacraments

    “However, there is a second effect where we sin, and that is what we call penalty.  Penalty is the debt of suffering which is due to everyone who commits sin. Sin and pain go together as cause and effect. All pain, all suffering, is always due to sin. Not necessarily, as we  also believe, the sin of the one who suffers. There is such a thing as others suffering for my sin, and my suffering for their sin.”
    sufferingsin

    “There is no real overpopulation problem. No doubt, the poor countries generally have a higher rate of population growth. In fact, they seem to have a higher rate of population.  This is difficult to sustain, that is, a population growth, in the context of low economic and social development. And hear it, and weep:  the United States is a world leader in keeping poor countries poor.”
    charity

  • Fr. John LombardiOpen or Close

    “Self-denial is one of the most important aspects of our Religion — and one of the most neglected, rejected, by the modern world. Why is this seen as passé? Because we live in a culture of comfort.”
    lenttemptation

    “Ask for His supernatural Grace to overcome your bad habits, your addictions and inordinate affections — ask for His actual graces in a specific situation to avoid sin and choose Him.”
    reconciliation

    “Our Holy Mother Church calls this Season before Easter a 'penitential season.' One of the main messages of Our Lady of Lourdes was: 'Penance, penance, penance.' This means: we must try to make up for our sins. With every sin there is a punishment as part of justice (break a window, fix it; sin, do penance); and not everyone has fulfilled this (including possibly ourselves!). So: it is a heroic act of mercy; love and wisdom to help the world to help atone for its sins.”
    penance

    “Lent is about a relationship, the most important one, with God and our neighbor.”
    lent

    “When we fast, pray and give alms, give up beer and bubble gum, soap operas or vicious driving, we should rejoice that: 1) we are converting to God; 2) doing charitable works for others; 3) living more sanely and gaining in self mastery.”
    lent

    “While doing penances you may not feel happy and light; but you may be joy-full, which means, accessing a "deeper spiritual river" of contentment in the Holy Sprit, a Grace of God that you are in accord with his Divine Will.”
    joypenance

    “Catholics believe in both fasting and giving alms, in self-denial which costs something and doing good works for others. It's not a pick or chose proposition, contrary to modern thought.”
    lentpenance

    “If you do anything in Lent, meditate upon, and pray continuously, this passage: 'Lord, lay your healing Hand upon me, for I have sinned.' It intimates the Lord God can and will heal us — but we need to keep asking for His help.”
    lentreconciliation

    “For modernism tends to make a cult of feelings, especially of pleasure. Whatever is against these feelings is dismissed as wrong, stunting to one's personal happiness. Saying 'no' to self is not popular these days, and thus is a modernist affliction upon ascetical living — even spirituality can become one more 'I-centered' promotion of commotion. Think of it this way: When I say 'no' to self (to food or drink or anger or entertainment) then I am saying 'Yes' to God.”
    temptationculture

    “We may describe some of today's average Americans as 'homo consumeris' — 'man-as-consumer.' The fractured thinking: the more you consume the better off you are. When you consume you will be fulfilled.”
    greed

    “We live in a culture of narcissism, and within one of the most titanic vortexes of influence: self-fulfillment, self-esteem, self-healing, and self-help: Endless self, always seeking, promising and never delivering a total, salvific solution. And we bring and rely on that flawed self within our prayer, adversely affecting our prayer relationship with God the Trinity. What we need is Grace — God's freely given Life within us.”
    pridegrace

    “Subtract self and selfishness to add God into your life and soul.”
    obedience

    “Do penance for all sinners and liberate by your loving actions.”
    penancesalvation

    “Remember: good fruits are the result of penance. Because a certain ascetical practice helps us, it should help benefit and balance our relationship to God and neighbor.”
    penance

    “We live in a culture of affluence — food abundance, super supermarkets and fifty foot salad bars. Proverbially stare in the refrigerator and wonder what to eat for minutes as you stand in your so-called suffering and 'hunger pains.' So much yet so picky, you get finicky and forget your blessings.”
    fastingculture

  • Fr. Henri NouwenOpen or Close

    “Optimism is the expectation that things — the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on — will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.....Let's live with hope.”
    hope

    “Words of love and affirmation are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.”
    dialoguekindness

    “It is very important to realize that our vocation is hidden in where we are and who we are. We are unique human beings, each with a call to realize in life what nobody else can, and to realize it in the concrete context of the here and now.”
    vocation

    “...Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy.”
    joy

    “The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: these feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth...is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”
    culturedeceit

    “Often we are made to believe that self-deprecation is a virtue, called humility. But humility is, in reality, the opposite of self-deprecation. It is the grateful recognition that we are precious in God's eyes and that all we are is pure gift.”
    humility

    “You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.”
    conversioneducation

    “The word patience comes from the Latin verb 'patior' which means 'to suffer'. Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grow into strong plants.”
    patiencesuffering

    “As faithful witnesses of Jesus we have to trust that our lives too will be fruitful, even though we cannot see their fruit. The fruit of our lives may be visible only to those who live after us. What is important is how well we love. God will make our love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not.”
    trust

    “Life is precious. Not because it is unchangeable, like a diamond, but because it is vulnerable, like a little bird. To love life means to love its vulnerability, asking for care, attention, guidance, and support.”
    lifekindness

    “Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.”
    courage

    “Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus is not an empty waiting. It is a waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for...

    Waiting for God is an active, alert — yes, joyful — waiting.”
    patience

    “God does not send us to heaven or hell depending on how often we obey or disobey. God is love and only love. In God there is no hatred, desire for revenge, or pleasure in seeing us punished. God wants to forgive, heal, restore, show us endless mercy, and see us come home. But just as the father of the prodigal son let his son make his own decision God gives us the freedom to move away from God's love even at the risk of destroying ourselves.

    Hell is not God's choice. It is ours.”
    justicesin

    “To be chosen as the Beloved of God is something radically different. Instead of excluding others, it includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness. It is not a competitive, but a compassionate choice.”
    love

    “The story of Jesus is to be proclaimed and celebrated. Some will hear and rejoice, some will remain indifferent, some will become hostile. The story of Jesus will not always be accepted, but it must be told.”
    evangelizationscripture

    “One thing we know for sure about our God: Our God is a God of the living, not of the dead. God is life. God is love. God is beauty. God is goodness. God is truth. God doesn't want us to die. God wants us to live. Our God, who loves us from eternity to eternity, wants to give us life for eternity.”
    love

  • Fr. Marie Dominique PhilippeOpen or Close

    “Lent is a retreat that the Church gives us in order to re-focus on what should be first in our lives. The purpose of Jesus' life was to glorify the Father and save the world....Lent is not first a time of giving up but a time to re-choose to be the victim of Christ, the Lamb. It is a time to live the Beatitudes.”
    lent

    “Because medicine is an art, it can touch quality, it can act on dispositions but not on the substance. Certainly there also exists a medicine which only acknowledges and works through quantity: as a matter of fact this is precisely the nature of a medicine which is entirely dependent on modern science, which pays no attention to anything except quantity.”
    sciencehealth

    “Scientific knowledge, which regards itself as 'objective' must therefore ignore the proper sensibles. By this, scientific knowledge impoverishes itself: in order to achieve greater quantitative precision, it sacrifices a more qualitative knowledge.”
    science

  • Blessed Emilian KowczOpen or Close

    “I thank God for His goodness to me. Apart from heaven, this (prison camp) is the one place where I wish to remain. Here we are all equal: Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Latvians and Estonians. Of all these here I am the only priest. I cannot even imagine how it would be here without me. Here I see God, who is the same for us all, regardless of our religious distinctions. Perhaps our churches are different, but the same great and Almighty God rules over us all. When I celebrate the Divine Liturgy, they all join in prayer.”
    empathygrace

    “They (prisoners) die in different ways, and I help them to cross over this little bridge into eternity. Is this not a blessing? Isn't this the greatest crown which God could have placed upon my head? It is indeed. I thank God a thousand times a day for sending me here. I do not ask him for anything else. Do not worry, and do not lose faith at what I share. Instead, rejoice with me. Pray for those who created this concentration camp and this system. They are the only ones who need prayers . . May God have mercy upon them.”
    deathmercy

    “I know that the soldier on the front line feels better when he sees the doctor and the priest also there...You know, lads, that I am consecrated, and a bullet doesn't take a consecrated man easily.”
    martyrsmercy

    “I understand that you are trying to get me released (from a prison camp). But I beg you not to do this. Yesterday they (Nazis) killed fifty people. If I am not here, who will help them to get through these sufferings? They would go on their way to eternity with all their sins and in the depths of unbelief, which would take them to hell. But now they go to death with their heads held aloft, leaving all their sins behind them. And so they pass over to the eternal city.”
    martyrssalvation

  • Blessed Teresa of CalcuttaOpen or Close

    “We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?”
    abortiondeath

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

    “How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.”
    children

    “A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness.”
    sacrifice

    “A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness.”
    sacrifice

    “As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor — He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.”
    lentlove

    “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
    tolerancelove

    “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
    abortion

    “Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”
    kindness

    “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”
    humilitylove

    “Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person.”
    diligence

    “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”
    familykindness

    “Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.”
    eucharistsacramentsfaith

    “When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”
    eucharistsacrificelove

    “The season of Advent is like springtime in nature, when everything is renewed and so is fresh and healthy. Advent is also meant to do this to us — to refresh us and make us healthy, to be able to receive Christ in whatever form he may come to us.”
    adventhealth

    “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, in a heart so pure, so immaculate, so warm with love for one another.”
    christmaslove

    “Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls.”
    evangelizationjoy

    “We are at Jesus’ disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that’s all right, everything is all right. We must say, 'I belong to you. You can do whatever you like.' And this is our strength. This is the joy of the Lord.”
    obediencetrust

    “Let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. Every one 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.”
    joy

    “People who love each other fully and truly are the happiest people in the world. They may have little, they may have nothing, but they are happy people. Everything depends on how we love one another.”
    joylove

    “If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that.”
    pride

    “God doesn’t ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.”
    faithdiligence

    “I think the world today is upside down. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater development and greater riches and so on. There is much suffering because there is so very little love in homes and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.”
    greedculture

  • Blessed Titus BrandsmaOpen or Close

    “He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.”
    courageevangelization

    “I see God in the work of His hands and the marks of His love in every visible thing, and it sometimes happens that I am seized by a supreme joy which is above all other joys.”
    dominionjoy

  • Blessed Pier Giorgio FrassatiOpen or Close

    “In order to be Christian, our lives must be a continual renunciation and sacrifice. However, we know that the difficulties of this world are nothing compared to the eternal happiness that awaits us, where there will be no limit to our joy, no end to our happiness, and we shall enjoy unimaginable peace. And so, young people, learn from our Lord Jesus Christ the meaning of sacrifice.”
    sacrificejoy

    “A Catholic cannot help but be happy; sadness should be banished from their souls. Suffering is not sadness, which is the worst disease. This disease is almost always caused by atheism, but the end for which we are created guides us along life's pathway, which may be strewn with thorns, but is not sad. It is happy even through suffering.”
    joy

    “May peace reign in your soul... any other gift we possess in this life is vanity, just as all the things of this world are vain.”
    peace

    “Foolish is he who follows the pleasures of this world, because these are always fleeting and bring much pain. The only true pleasure is that which comes to us through faith.”
    temptation

    “We are living through difficult days because the persecution against the Church is raging more than ever, but this should not frighten you, brave and good young people. Always remember that the Church is a divine institution and it cannot come to an end.”
    politics

    “The faith given to me in baptism suggests to me surely: by yourself you will do nothing, but if you have God as the center of all your action, then you will reach the goal.”
    diligence

    “In a world gone astray from God there is no peace, but it also lacks charity, which is true and perfect love... Nothing is more beautiful than love. Indeed, faith and hope will end when we die, whereas love, that is, charity, will last for eternity; if anything, I think it will be even more alive in the next life!”
    sin

    “To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live but to 'get along'; we must never just 'get along'.”
    faith

  • Blessed Jerzy PopiełuszkoOpen or Close

    “An idea which needs rifles to survive dies of its own accord.”
    war

    “The death of martyrs is the seed of Christians.”
    martyrs

    “Hope cannot die. Solidarity was and is the hope of millions of Poles, and that hope is made stronger because it is connected with God in prayer.”
    hopeprayer

  • Mother AngelicaOpen or Close

    “Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: 'saint.' It a more difficult degree to attain. It takes a lifetime, and you don't get your diploma until you're dead.”
    diligencesaints

    “I'm not afraid to fail…I'm scared to death of dying and having the Lord say to me, 'Angelica, this is what you might have done had you trusted more.”
    feartrust

    “If you're not a thorn in somebody's side, you aren't doing Christianity right.”
    tolerance

    “Salvation brings the soul a deep awareness of God’s Love. Life takes on more meaning for it now has a purpose. Trials and crosses are no longer mysteries but caresses from the Crucified Lord.”
    salvation

    “We are commanded to love God with all our strength, heart, mind and soul and our neighbor in the same way God loves us — it is the same love flowing between God and the soul — the soul and its neighbor. It is difficult, but the burden of the cross is light compared to the cross of uncontrolled emotions, anger, insistence on one’s own opinion, the frustration of trying to change others rather than being changed oneself, resentment, regrets and guilt. Accepting the present moment like Jesus did is certainly a lighter burden.”
    obedience

  • Pope Emeritus Benedict XVIOpen or Close

    “The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings.”
    abortion

    “We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.”
    mercy

    “Many false idols are held up today. For Christians to be faithful, they can’t be afraid to go against the current.”
    culture

    “During the season of Lent which begins today (Ash Wednesday), we renew our commitment to the path of conversion, making more room for God in our lives.”
    lentconversion

    “Lent is a favourable time in which to rediscover faith in God as the foundation of our lives and of the Church's life.”
    lent

    “Man is dust and to dust he shall return, but dust is precious in God's eyes because God created man, destining him to immortality.”
    lenthumility

    “Through fasting and praying, we allow (Christ) to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.”
    fastinggrace

    “Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel ultimately means this: To exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one's own need — the need of others and God, the need of his forgiveness and his friendship.”
    conversionobedience

    “Almsgiving, according to the Gospel, is not mere philanthropy: rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbor, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave His entire self for us.”
    almsgiving

    “In Joseph there was amiability and the figure of a just man to make the quality of his witness more worthy.”
    josephsaints

    “What happens in Baptism? We become united forever with Jesus, to be born again to a new life.”
    baptism

    “Each year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters. In the Lenten period, the Church makes it her duty to propose some specific tasks that accompany the faithful concretely in this process of interior renewal: these are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.”
    lent

    “Lent stimulates us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and in this way to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what path we must take in life...”
    lent

    “The observance of Lent is the very badge of Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the cross of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.”
    lent

    “God is always faithful in His promises, but He often surprises us in the way He fulfills them.”
    faith

    “Following Christ’s example, we have to learn to give ourselves completely. Anything else is not enough.”
    obedience

    “Those who insufficiently value human life and, in consequence, support among other things the liberalization of abortion, perhaps do not realize that in this way they are proposing the pursuit of a false peace. The flight from responsibility, which degrades human persons, and even more so the killing of a defenseless and innocent being, will never be able to produce happiness or peace.”
    abortionlife

    “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”
    life

    “There is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union; such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society.”
    marriagegender

    “Chaplains and their collaborators are called to be heralds of God's infinite compassion and forgiveness.”
    vocationmercy

    “I leave from where the apostle arrived.”
    evangelization

    “We cannot keep to ourselves the words of eternal life given to us in our encounter with Jesus Christ: they are meant for every man and every woman. It is our responsibility to pass on what, by God's grace, we ourselves have received.”
    evangelization

    “The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”
    temptationvirtue

    “Our world is full of contradictions and challenges, but it remains God's creation. The world is wounded by evil, but God loves it still…. There is no room for pessimism in the minds and hearts of those who know their Lord has conquered death and that His Spirt works with might in histor....In the face of the questions that dominant cultures pose to faith and to the Church, we renew our trust in the Lord, certain that even in these contexts the Gospel is the bearer of light and capable of healing every human weakness.”
    temptationfaith

    “We are no longer able to hear God — there are too many frequencies filling our ears.”
    prayerculture

    “Dear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord had allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, His name will continue to resound throughout the world.”
    couragehope

    “Faith in the resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered… God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed.”
    Easter

    “God does not hide behind clouds of impenetrable mystery....He has shown Himself, He talks to us and is with us; He lives with us and guides us in our lives.”
    grace

    “God is not a relentless sovereign who condemns the guilty but a loving Father whom we must love, not for fear of punishment, but for His kindness, His quickness to forgive.”
    lovereconciliation

    “The defense of the family is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.”
    family

    “Our human dignity is inseperable from the sacredness of life as a gift of the Creator. In God's plan, each person is unique and irreplaceable. A person comes into this world in a family, which is the first focus of humanization, and above all the first school of peace. To build peace, we need to look to the family, supporting it and facilitating its task, and in this way promoting an overall culture of life. The effectiveness of our commitment to peace depends on our understanding of human life. If we want peace, let us defend life!”
    familylifepeace

    “The path to the attainment of the common good and to peace is above all that of respect for human life in all its many aspects, beginning with its conception, through its development and up to its natural end. True peacemakers, then, are those who love, defense and promote human life in all its dimensions, personal, communitarian and transcendent. Life in its fullness is the height of peace. Anyone who loves peace cannot tolerate attacks and crimes against life.”
    lifepeace

    “Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd. Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be servants of unity.”
    hopehumility

    “The fact that the Church is convinced of not having the right to confer priestly ordination on women is now considered by some as irreconcilable with the European Constitution.”
    vocationgender

    “The Faith does not mean an alienation from any culture for any people because all cultures await Christ and are not destroyed by the Lord. In fact, they reach their maturity.”
    culture

    “In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration.”
    eucharistadorationsacraments

    “The new pope knows that his task is to make the light of Christ shine before men and women of world — not his own light, but that of Christ.”
    vocation

    “When Christians refuse to bow down before false gods proposed today, it is not because of an antiquated worldview. Rather, it is because they are free from the constraints of ideology and inspired by such a noble vision of human destiny that they cannot collude with anything that undermines it.”
    faithtruth

    “An Adult faith does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelties.”
    faithculture

    “Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
    vocationhumility

    “Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not... with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”
    abortionwrath

    “We must have great respect for these people who also suffer and who want to find their own way of correct living. On the other hand, to create a legal form of a kind of homosexual marriage, in reality, does not help these people.”
    marriagegender

    “The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.”
    faith

    “Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is more or less strong tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”
    sexgender

    “Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and ‘swept along by every wind of teaching,’ looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards.”
    culturefaith

    “Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. Such attraction fades quickly — it cannot compete in the market of leisure pursuits, incorporating as it increasingly does various forms of religious titillation.”
    liturgyhumility

    “Receiving the Eucharist means adoring Him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with Him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself.”
    eucharistadoration

    “In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful. It is a source of comfort and light, particularly to those who are suffering.”
    eucharistadoration

  • Pope FrancisOpen or Close

    “Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: He is life! If, up till now, you have kept Him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following Him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust Him, be confident that He is close to you, He is with you and He will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as He would have you do.”
    conversionEaster

    “To experience Holy Week is to enter more and more into God's logic of love and self-giving.”
    Lent

    “We must not believe the Evil One when he tells us that there is nothing we can do in the face of violence, injustice and sin.”
    eviltemptation

    “If we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong.”
    evangelization

    “The right to life is the first among human rights. To abort a child is to kill someone who cannot defend himself.”
    abortionlife

    “But there is no true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth.”
    truthpeace

    “At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.”
    familygender

    “Don’t forget this, the Lord never gets tired of forgiving, it is we that get tired of asking forgiveness.”
    reconciliation

    “Joseph is a 'protector' because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”
    Josephvocation

    “Let us not hear words of contempt or condone, but only words of love and mercy that invite us to conversion.”
    conversion

    “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you. No child should be deprived of the right to be born, the right to be fed, the right to go to school.”
    lifeabortion

    “Let us never give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day. Do not give in to pessimism and discouragement. We have the firm certainty that the Holy Spirit gives the Church with His mighty breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”
    hopecourage

    “To those who are now promising to fix all your problems, I say, ‘Go and fix yourself.’...Have a change of heart. Get to confession, before you need it even more! The current crisis will not be improved by magicians from outside the country and nor will (improvement) come from the golden mouth of our politicians, so accustomed to making incredible promises.”
    reconciliationpolitics

    “We need to avoid the spiritual sickness of a Church that is wrapped up in its own world: when a Church becomes like this, it grows sick. It is true that going out onto the street implies the risk of accidents happening, as they would to any ordinary man or woman. But if the Church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded Church that goes out onto the streets and a sick withdrawn Church, I would definitely choose the first one.”
    evangelization

    “In our ecclesiastical region (Buenos Aires) there are priests who don’t baptize the children of single mothers because they weren’t conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today’s hypocrites. Those who clericalise the church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it’s baptised!”
    baptismsalvation

  • Blessed Pope John Paul IIOpen or Close

    “In fact, the external aspects of fasting, though important, do not convey the full measure of the practice. Joined to the practice should be a sincere desire for inner purification, readiness to obey the divine will and thoughtful solidarity with our brothers and sisters, especially the poor.”
    fastinglent

    “I do not hesitate to proclaim before you and before the world that all human life — from the moment of conception and through all subsequent stages — is sacred, because human life is created in the image and likeness of God.”
    life

    “From Mary we learn to surrender to God's will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust when all hope is gone. From Mary we learn to trust her Son and Christ the Son of God.”
    marytrust

    “Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love.”
    chastitymarriage

    “Chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness which it must bring. But at the same time, chastity is the sure way to happiness.”
    chastity

    “Deep within yourself, listen to your conscience which calls you to be pure...a home is not warmed by the fire of pleasure which burns quickly like a pile of withered grass. Passing encounters are only a caricature of love; they injure hearts and mock God's plan.”
    lust

    “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”
    abortionhope

    “When some lives, including those of the unborn, are subjected to the personal choices of others, no other value or right will be long guaranteed.”
    abortionfreedom

    “The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.”
    abortion

    “Since the Middle Ages, theology — which developed in a context of generous commitment to 'spiritual combat' for Christ — has not hesitated to highlight the strength given by Confirmation to Christians who are called 'soldiers for God.'”
    confirmationobedience

    “The grace conferred by the Sacrament of Confirmation is more specifically a gift of strength. This gift corresponds to the need for greater zeal in facing the 'spiritual battle' of faith and charity in order to resist temptation and give the witness of Christian word and deed to the world with courage, fervor and perseverance. This zeal is conferred by the Holy Spirit.”
    confirmationcourage

    “God has assigned a duty to every man, the dignity of every woman.”
    gender

    “Anything done for another is done for oneself.”
    kindness

    “The truth is not always the same as the majority decision.”
    truthculture

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

    “Are you capable of risking your life for someone? Do it for Christ.”
    sacrifice

    “War is a defeat for humanity.”
    war

    “Wars generally do not resolve the problems for which they are fought and therefore... prove ultimately futile.”
    war

    “The liturgy of Advent...helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.”
    adventhope

    “Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it.”
    education

    “The future starts today, not tomorrow.”
    diligence

    “Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.”
    justicewrath

    “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
    freedomvirtue

    “From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can survive.”
    virtue

    “Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men.”
    warwrath

    “War should belong to the tragic past, to history: it should find no place on humanity’s agenda for the future.”
    war

    “Peace is not just the absence of war. Like a cathedral, peace must be constructed patiently and with unshakable faith.”
    peacepatience

    “I hope to have communion with the people, that is the most important thing.”
    liturgy

    “The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church, a duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity.”
    chastityvocation

    “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.”
    courage

    “The human person is a good towards which the only proper attitude is love.”
    love

    “In that little Host is the solution to all the problems of the world.”
    eucharist

    “To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others.”
    family

    “To overcome today's individualistic mentality, a concrete commitment to solidarity and charity is needed, beginning in the family.”
    culturefamily

    “Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it.”
    love

    “God is Love. We eventually have to ask ourselves the question; why was Love nailed to a cross?”
    lovesacrifice

    “Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.”
    sciencetruth

    “Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.”
    freedompolitics

    “Pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. The challenge that is already with us is the temptation to accept as true freedom what in reality is only a new form of slavery.”
    patriotismfreedom

    “Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church.”
    marriagefamily

    “An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded.”
    deceit

    “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.”
    familyculture

    “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
    easterhope

    “Young people are threatened by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.”
    culturesloth

    “Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it.”
    war

    “I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly mother. I consider it my duty to be with my compatriots in this sublime and difficult moment.”
    patriotism

    “Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.”
    fearcourage

    “The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish.”
    family

    “The historical experience of socialist countries has sadly demonstrated that collectivism does not do away with alienation but rather increases it, adding to it a lack of basic necessities and economic inefficiency.”
    politics

    “What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.”
    reconciliation

    “The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message.”
    evangelization

    “The unworthy successor of Peter who desires to benefit from the immeasurable wealth of Christ feels the great need of your assistance, your prayers, your sacrifice, and he most humbly asks this of you.”
    humility

    “You are priests, not social or political leaders. Let us not be under the illusion that we are serving the Gospel through an exaggerated interest in the wide field of temporal problems.”
    vocationpolitics

    “When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.”
    freedomvirtue

    “You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day that these words constitute the principle of your entire life and that with the help of divine grace you will observe these solemn vows that today, before God, you formulate.”
    gracemarriage

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

  • Pope John XXIIIOpen or Close

    “A peaceful man does more good than a learned one.”
    peaceeducation

    “Every man has the right to life, to bodily integrity.”
    health

    “Doing penance for one's sins is a first step towards obtaining forgiveness and winning eternal salvation. That is the clear and explicit teaching of Christ, and no one can fail to see how justified and how right the Catholic Church has always been in constantly insisting on this. She is the spokesman for her divine Redeemer. No individual Christian can grow in perfection, nor can Christianity gain in vigor, except it be on the basis of penance.”
    lentpenance

    “Born poor, but of honored and humble people, I am particularly proud to die poor.”
    humility

    “Anybody can be Pope; the proof of this is that I have become one.”
    humility

    “Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. We must always remember this. The actual words matter less.”
    prayer

    “God created shadows to better emphasize the light.”
    hope

    “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
    hope

    “It is now for the Catholic Church to bend herself to her work with calmness and generosity. It is for you to observe her with renewed and friendly attention.”
    charitykindness

    “See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.”
    kindness

    “The family is the first essential cell of human society.”
    family

    “The feelings of my smallness and my nothingness always kept me good company.”
    humility

    “The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality of arms, but in mutual trust alone.”
    peacefaith

  • Pope Paul IIIOpen or Close

    “There is no redemption from hell.”
    salvation

    “God has given me authority in heaven and on earth, but my writ does not extend to hell. You will just have to put up with it.”
    dominion

    “The enemy of the human race . . . invented a means never before heard of, by which he might hinder the preaching of God's word of Salvation to the people.”
    deceit

  • Pope Paul VIOpen or Close

    “Never give advice in a crowd.”
    friends

    “Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest.”
    wrath

    “Never reach out your hand unless you're willing to extend an arm.”
    kindness

    “The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.”
    patience

    “Every mother is like Moses. She does not enter the promised land. She prepares a world she will not see.”
    parents

    “The Spirit creates joy, and joy is effusive.”
    joy

    “If you want peace, work for justice.”
    peacejustice

    “In youth the days are short and the years are long. In old age the years are short and day's long.”
    patience

    “Liturgy is like a strong tree whose beauty is derived from the continuous renewal of its leaves, but whose strength comes from the old trunk, with solid roots in the ground.”
    liturgy

    “Nothing makes one feel so strong as a call for help.”
    hopeprayer

    “Of all human activities, man's listening to God is the supreme act of his reasoning and will.”
    prayer

    “No more war! Never again war! If you wish to be brothers, drop your weapons.”
    war

    “You must strive to multiply bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favor an artificial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life.”
    children

    “We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him rejoice.”
    joy

    “Think how many blameless lives are brightened by the blazing indiscretions of other people.”
    evangelization

    “The work of art, just like any fragment of human life considered in its deepest meaning, seems to me devoid of value if it does not offer the hardness, the rigidity, the regularity, the luster on every interior and exterior facet, of the crystal.”
    virtue

    “The Eucharistic mystery stands at the heart and center of the liturgy since it is the fount of life by which we are cleansed and strengthened to live not for ourselves but for God and to be united in love among ourselves.”
    eurcharistsacraments

    “Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating joy.”
    sciencejoy

    “Physics does not change the nature of the world it studies, and no science of behavior can change the essential nature of man, even though both sciences yield technologies with a vast power to manipulate the subject matters.”
    science

    “Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”
    diligence

    “The world calls for and expects from us simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility. Without this mark of holiness, our word will have difficulty in touching the heart of modern man. It risks being vain and sterile.”
    charityhumility

  • Pope St. ClementOpen or Close

    “Let us fix our gaze on the blood of Christ, realizing how precious it is to his Father, since it was shed for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to all the world.”
    salvation

    “Since all things lie open to His eyes and ears, let us hold Him in awe and rid ourselves of impure desires to do works of evil, so that we may be protected by His mercy from the judgement that is to come. Which of us can escape His mighty hand?”
    temptationjustice

    “Heretical teachers pervert Scripture and try to get into Heaven with a false key, for they have formed their human assemblies later than the Catholic Church. From this previously-existing and most true Church, it is very clear that these later heresies, and others which have come into being since then, are counterfeit and novel inventions.”
    heresy

    “The Lord has turned all our sunsets into sunrises.”
    hope

    “Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted.”
    sexchastity

    “Filthy talk makes us feel comfortable with filthy action. But the one who knows how to control the tongue is prepared to resist the attacks of lust.”
    sin

    “Charity unites us to God. There is nothing mean in charity, nothing arrogant. Charity knows no schism, does not rebel, does all things in concord. In charity all the elect of God have been made perfect.”
    charity

  • Pope St. Gregory IOpen or Close

    “He who would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not leaps.”
    diligencepatience

    “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”
    diligencelove

    “Perhaps it is not after all so difficult for a man to part with his possessions, but it is certainly most difficult for him to part with himself. To renounce what one has is a minor thing; but to renounce what one is, that is asking a lot.”
    pride

    “Our fatherland is paradise, heaven. We have departed from it by pride, disobedience, abuse of the senses, therefore it is needed that we return to it by obedience, contempt of the world, and by taming the desires of the flesh; thus we return to our own country by another road. By forbidden pleasures we have forfeited the joys of paradise, by penance we must regain them.”
    prideobedience

    “Don't be anxious about what you have, but about what you are!”
    greed

    “If we knew at what time we were to depart from this world, we would be able to select a season for pleasure and another for repentance. But God, who has promised pardon to every repentant sinner, has not promised us tomorrow. Therefore we must always dread the final day, which we can never foresee. This very day is a day of truce, a day for conversion. And yet we refuse to cry over the evil we have done! Not only do we not weep for the sins we have committed, we even add to them.”
    deathsin

    “Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power.”
    angelsdominion

    “You should be aware that the word 'angel' denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.”
    angels

    “Learn the heart of God from the word of God.”
    scripture

    “The words of those who bring up children will be as milk if they be good, but as deadly poison if they be evil.”
    childrenparents

    “Holy Scripture is a stream in which the elephant may swim and the lamb may wade.”
    scripture

    “The Holy Spirit gives wisdom against folly, understanding against dullness, counsel against rashness, fortitude against fears, knowledge against ignorance, piety against hardness of our heart, and fear against pride.”
    trinityvirtue

    “What is God’s altar if not the soul of those who lead good lives? Rightly then, the heart of the just is said to be the altar of God.”
    virtue

    “Every day you provide your bodies with good food to keep them from failing. In the same way, your good works should be the daily nourishment of your hearts. Your bodies are fed with food and your spirits with good works. You aren’t to deny your soul, which is going to live forever, what you grant to your body, which is going to die.”
    diligence

    “The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind’s eye. In it we see our inner face. From the Scriptures we can learn our spiritual deformities and beauties. And there too we discover the progress we are making and how far we are from perfection.”
    scripture

    “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence, we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.”
    justice

    “There are in truth three states of the converted: the beginning, the middle, and the perfection. In the beginning, they experience the charms of sweetness; in the middle, the contests of temptation; and in the end, the fullness of perfection.”
    conversiontemptation

  • Pope St. Gregory VIIOpen or Close

    “I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”
    justice

    “It is the custom of the Roman Church which I unworthily serve with the help of God, to tolerate some things, to turn a blind eye to some, following the spirit of discretion rather than the rigid letter of the law.”
    humilitytolerance

  • Pope St. Leo the GreatOpen or Close

    “The devil is always discovering something novel against the truth.”
    eviltruth

    “I have neither permitted, nor shall I permit, the things which have been settled by the holy fathers to be violated by any innovation.”
    tradition

    “Teach nothing new, but implant in the hearts of everyone those things which the fathers of venerable memory taught with a uniform preaching ... Whence, we preach nothing except what we have received from our forefathers. In all things, therefore, both in the rule of faith in the observance of discipline, let the pattern of antiquity be observed.”
    traditioneducation

    “Truth, which is simple and one, admits of no variety.”
    truth

    “A true worshipper is one whose mind has not been defiled with any false belief.”
    heresy

    “Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God.”
    dominionconversion

    “The Child, the Lord Jesus Christ… Word in our flesh, Wisdom in infancy, Power in weakness, and in true Man, the Lord of Majesty.”
    Christmas

    “God decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.”
    dominionsalvation

    “For all, regenerated in Christ, as made kings by the sign of the cross. They are consecrated priests by the oil of the Holy Spirit, so that beyond the special service of our ministry as priests, all spiritual and mature Christians know that they are a royal race and are sharers in the office of the priesthood.”
    vocation

    “Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.”
    virtuetemptation

    “A great safeguard is the entire faith, the true faith, in which neither anything whatever can be added by anyone nor anything taken away; for, unless faith be one, it is not the faith.”
    tradition

    “The faith by which we live shall never vary in any age . . . for one is the faith which sanctifies the Just of all ages.”
    tradition

    “And so if anything is rightly done and rightly decreed by us, if anything is won from the mercy of God by our daily supplications, it is of his work and merits whose power lives and whose authority prevails in His See. For this, dearly-beloved, was gained by that confession, which, inspired in the Apostle's heart by God the Father, transcended all the uncertainty of human opinions, and was endued with the firmness of a rock, which no assaults could shake. For throughout the Church, Peter daily says, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,' and every tongue which confesses the Lord, accepts the instruction his voice conveys. This Faith conquers the devil, and breaks the bonds of his prisoners. It uproots us from this earth and plants us in heaven, and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. For with such solidity is it endued by GOD that the depravity of heretics cannot mar it nor the unbelief of the heathen overcome it.”
    faith

  • Pope St. Pius XOpen or Close

    “The greatest obstacle in the apostolate of the Church is the timidity or rather the cowardice of the faithful.”
    fear

    “My hope is in Christ, who strengthens the weakest by His Divine help. I can do all in Him who strengthens me. His Power is infinite, and if I lean on him, it will be mine. His Wisdom is infinite, and if I look to Him for counsel, I shall not be deceived. His Goodness is infinite, and if my trust is stayed in Him, I shall not be abandoned.”
    hope

    “Whereas in the Lord's Prayer, we are bidden to ask for 'our daily bread,' the Holy Fathers of the Church all but unanimously teach that by these words must be understood, not so much that material bread which is the support of the body, as the Eucharistic bread, which ought to be our daily food.”
    eucharist

    “Frequent and daily Communion is greatly desired by our Lord and the Church.”
    eucharist

    “Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven.”
    eucharist

    “Truly we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make our own the lamentation of the Prophet: "There is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land" (Hosea 4:1). Yet in the midst of this tide of evil, the Virgin Most Merciful rises before our eyes like a rainbow, as the arbiter of peace between God and man.”
    hope

    “I accept with sincere belief the doctrine of faith as handed down to us from the Apostles by the orthodox Fathers, always in the same sense and with the same interpretation.”
    tradition

    “Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators: they are traditionalists.”
    tradition

    “It is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted, to different times and different places.”
    heresy

    “The Church alone, being the Bride of Christ and having all things in common with her Divine Spouse, is the depository of the truth.”
    truth

  • St. AgathaOpen or Close

    “To be a servant of Christ is to be truly free.”
    obediencefreedom

    “Lord, my creator, you have protected me since I was in the cradle. You have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Now receive my spirit.”
    gracemartyrs

  • St. Agnes of RomeOpen or Close

    “Christ made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve.”
    gracevirtue

    “I have chosen a spouse who cannot be seen with mortal eyes, whose mouth drips with milk and honey.”
    chastity

  • St. AlcuinOpen or Close

    “Remember to care for the soul more than the body, since the former remains, the latter perishes.”
    health

    “And do not listen to those who keep saying, 'The voice of the people is the voice of God.' because the tumult of the crowd is always close to madness.”
    culture

    “In the morning, at the height of my powers, I sowed the seed in Britain, now in the evening when my blood is growing cold I am still sowing in France, hoping both will grow, by the grace of God, giving some the honey of the holy scriptures, making others drunk on the old wine of ancient learning.”
    evangelization

  • St. Aloysius GonzagaOpen or Close

    “He who wishes to love God does not truly love Him if he has not an ardent and constant desire to suffer for His sake.”
    lovesuffering

    “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 they most holy intercession, and by thy merits, all my actions may be directed and governed by thy will and that of thy Son.”
    maryobedience

    “It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world.”
    obedience

  • St. Alphonsus LigouriOpen or Close

    “He who prays is saved; and he who does not pray is damned.”
    prayersalvation

    “He who communicates most frequently will be freest from sin, and will make farthest progress in Divine Love.”
    dialogue

    “When we have to reply to anyone who has insulted us, we should be careful to do it always with gentleness. A soft answer extinguishes the fire of wrath.”
    kindnesswrathdialogue

    “New revelations regarding faith or morals ... have always been abhorred and challenged in the Church ... Hence, the Sovereign Pontiffs, the Councils, and the Fathers have been most careful to reject all novelties or new doctrines on matters of faith which differed from those already received.”
    tradition

    “The Catholic faith alone produces miracles, which are never seen among heretics. Plants of this sort cannot grow in a soil cursed by God; they can only take root in that Church where the True Faith is professed ... God cannot sanction the performance of a miracle except in favour of the true religion; were He to permit it in support of error, He would deceive us.”
    heresytruth

    “When we hear people talk of riches, honors and amusements of the world, let us remember that all things have an end, and let us then say: 'My God, I wish for You alone and nothing more.'”
    greed

    “What folly it would be for travellers to think only of acquiring dignities and possessions in the countries through which they had to pass, and then to reduce themselves to the necessity of living miserably in their native lands, where they must remain during their whole lives! And are not they fools who seek after happiness in this world, where they will remain only a few days, and expose themselves to the risk of being unhappy in the next, where they must live for eternity?”
    greed

    “True charity consists in doing good to those who do us evil, and in thus winning them over.”
    charityevangelization

    “We must show charity towards the sick, who are in greater need of help. Let us take them some small gift if they are poor, or, at least let us go and wait on them and comfort them.”
    mercy

    “Nothing but self-will can separate us from God.”
    freedom

    “True, He is infinite Majesty, but He is also infinite Goodness and infinite Love. There can be no greater Lord than God; neither can there be a more ardent lover than He.”
    lovevirtue

    “What grieves me most in my past offenses, O my loving God, is not so much the punishment I have deserved, as the displeasure I have given You, Who are worthy of infinite love.”
    sinjustice

    “The heart of man is, so to speak, the paradise of God.”
    love

    “Nothing else is required than to act toward God, in the midst of your occupations, as you do, even when busy, toward those who love you and whom you love.”
    diligence

    “It is a great mistake, as we have already remarked, to be afraid of Him and to act in His presence like a timid and craven slave trembling with fright before his master.”
    fear

    “God is displeased at the diffidence of souls who love Him sincerely and whom He Himself loves.”
    love

    “Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends.”
    prayer

    “Your God is ever beside you — indeed, He is even within you.”
    faith

    “Speak to Him often of your business, your plans, your troubles, your fears — of everything that concerns you.”
    prayer

    “Since His delights are to be with you, let yours be found in Him.”
    prayer

    “Job was astonished at seeing Almighty God so intent on doing good to us that He seems to have nothing more at heart than to love us and to induce us to love Him in return.”
    love

    “Just as a mother finds pleasure in taking her little child on her lap, there to feed and caress him, in like manner our loving God shows His fondness for His beloved souls who have given themselves entirely to Him and have placed all their hope in His goodness.”
    kindnesshope

    “If you wish to strengthen your confidence in God still more, often recall the loving way in which He has acted toward you, and how mercifully He has tried to bring you out of your sinful life, to break your attachment to the things of earth and draw you to His love.”
    faithlove

    “Assuredly, Loving Souls, you should go to God with all humility and respect, humbling yourselves in His presence, especially when you remember your past ingratitude and sins.”
    reconciliation

    “Ask those who love Him with a sincere love, and they will tell you that they find no greater or prompter relief amid the troubles of their life than in loving conversation with their Divine Friend.”
    prayer

    “Who is there that ever receives a gift and tries to make bargains about it? Let us, then, return thanks for what He has bestowed on us. Who can tell whether, if we had had a larger share of ability or stronger health, we should not have possessed them to our destruction.”
    gratitude

    “With such thoughts in your mind, now that you have resolved to love Him and please Him with all your strength, your only fear should be to fear God too much and to place too little confidence in Him.”
    reconciliationfear

  • St. Ambrose of MilanOpen or Close

    “Our own evil inclinations are far more dangerous than any external enemies.”
    temptation

    “No one heals himself by wounding another.”
    peace

    “He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others.”
    educationevangelization

    “We do not innovate anything...How is it that novelties are introduced which were never even thought of by our predecessors?”
    tradition

    “The Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church's foundation is unshakable and firm against assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress.”
    culturefaith

    “Your soul must hold fast to Him, you must follow after Him in your thoughts, you must tread His ways by faith, not in outward show.”
    faith

    “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.”
    faith

  • St. Angela MericiOpen or Close

    “Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.”
    culturefamily

    “In the fulfillment of your duties, let your intentions be so pure that you reject from your actions any other motive than the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”
    obedience

    “A good tree, that is, a good heart as well as a soul on fire with charity, can do nothing but good and holy works. For this reason Saint Augustine said: "Love, and do what you will," namely, possess love and charity and then do what you will. It is as if he had said: Charity is not able to sin.”
    charitysin

  • St. Anselm of CanterburyOpen or Close

    “No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God.”
    obedience

    “O, Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Give me then what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete.”
    joyobedience

  • St. Anthony of PaduaOpen or Close

    “Attribute to God every good that you have received. If you take credit for something that does not belong to you, you will be guilty of theft.”
    humilitypride

    “The spirit of humility is sweeter than honey, and those who nourish themselves with this honey produce sweet fruit.”
    humility

    “Anyone, then, who desires to live chastely in Christ Jesus, must flee not only the mouse of lust, but even from its very scent.”
    chastitylust

    “The Glorious Virgin did not have a stain in her birth because she was sanctified in her mother's womb and safeguarded there by angels.”
    Mary

    “Damned money! Alas! How many religious did it blind! How many cloistered religious did it deceive! Money is the 'droppings of birds' that blinded the eyes of Tobit. (Tob 2:10-12)”
    greed

    “Solicitude for material things distracts the soul and divides it. The devil seizes the divided soul and drags it to hell.”
    greed

    “Christ acts like a loving mother. To induce us to follow Him, He gives us Himself as an example and promises us a reward in His kingdom.”
    obedience

    “Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.”
    dialoguediligence

    “The saints are like the stars. In His providence Christ conceals them in a hidden place that they may not shine before others when they might wish to do so. Yet they are always ready to exchange the quiet of contemplation for the works of mercy as soon as they perceive in their heart the invitation of Christ.”
    saints

    “Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and its exterior is fair to behold; but inside it is hollow. If a man leans on such a reed, it will snap off and pierce his soul.”
    greed

    “Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey.”
    faith

    “We should speak, then, as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfillment, insofar as he infuses us with his grace, by using our bodily senses in a perfect manner by keeping the commandments. Likewise we shall request that we may be filled with a keen sense of sorrow and with fiery tongues for confessing the faith so our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendor of the saints and to look upon the triune God.”
    holy trinity

    “The life of the body is the soul; the life of the soul is God.”
    obedience

    “He who is the beginning and the end, the ruler of the angels, made Himself obedient to human creatures. The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.”
    obediencehumility

  • St. Anthony Mary ClaretOpen or Close

    “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.”
    evangelizationscripture

    “For myself, I say this to you: The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame; he deserves and works with all this strength to inflame all men with the fire of God's love. Nothing deters him: he rejoices in poverty; he labors strenuously; he welcomes hardships; he laughs off false accusations; he rejoices in anguish. He thinks only of how he might follow Jesus Christ and imitate him by his prayers, his labors, his sufferings, and by caring always and only for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”
    faith

  • St. Athanasius the GreatOpen or Close

    “He became what we are that He might make us what He is.”
    conversion

    “You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.”
    conversionscripture

    “But what is also to the point, let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles and preserved by the Fathers. On this the Church was founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is, nor any longer ought to be called, a Christian. ”
    tradition

    “The Word who became all things for us is close to us, our Lord Jesus Christ who promises to remain with us always. He cries out, saying: 'See, I am with you all the days of this age.' He is himself the shepherd, the high priest, the way and the door, and has become all things at once for us.”
    grace

    “Out of his loving-kindness for us he came to us, and we see this in the way he revealed himself openly to us. Taking pity on mankind's weakness, and moved by our corruption, he could not stand aside and see death have the mastery over us. He did not want creation to perish and his Father's work in fashioning man to be in vain. He therefore took to himself a body, no different from our own, for he did not wish simply to be in a body or only to be seen.”
    mercy

  • St. AugustineOpen or Close

    “If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we overcame the devil. Do you think only of Christ’s temptations and fail to think of His victory? See yourself as tempted in Him, and see yourself as victorious in Him. He could have kept the devil from Himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.”
    temptation

    “What do you possess if you possess not God?”
    greedfaith

    “God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to allow no evil to exist.”
    evilconversion

    “Heretics think false things about God and call it their faith.”
    heresy

    “The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.”
    liturgyangels

    “Even though you possess plenty, you are still indigent. You abound in temporal possessions, but you need things eternal. You listen to the needs of a human beggar, yet yourself are a beggar of God. What you do with those who beg from you is what God will do with His beggar. You are filled and you are empty. Fill your empty neighbor with your fullness, so that your emptiness may be filled from God's fullness.”
    greed

    “The truth is like a lion. You don't have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.”
    truth

    “He that is not jealous is not in love.”
    envy

    “You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones.”
    humility

    “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
    pridehumility

    “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”
    sciencetruth

    “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
    patienceeducation

    “Let us understand that God is a physician, and that suffering is a medicine for salvation, not a punishment for damnation.”
    suffering

    “Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet.”
    conversion

    “Your first task is to be dissatisfied with yourself, fight sin, and transform yourself into something better. Your second task is to put up with the trials and temptations of this world that will be brought on by the change in your life and to persevere to the very end in the midst of these things.”
    conversion

    “God had only One Son without sin, but never one without suffering.”
    suffering

    “The sin is caused not by the flesh, but by the will of the soul, and the corruption contracted from sin is not sin, but sin's punishment.”
    sin

    “The measure of charity may be taken from the want of desires. As desires diminish in the soul, charity increases in it; and when it no longer feels any desire, then it possesses perfect charity.”
    charitygreed

    “An unjust law is no law at all.”
    justice

    “Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.”
    maryfaith

    “The Kingdom of Heaven, O man, requires no other price than yourself. The value of it is yourself. Give yourself for it and you shall have it.”
    obedience

    “Punishment is justice for the unjust.”
    sinjustice

    “The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.”
    reconciliation

    “And He departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here.”
    Easter

    “If you are silent, be silent out of love. If you speak, speak out of love.”
    love

    “Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.”
    love

    “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us to love.”
    love

    “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
    diligenceprayer

    “To sing is to pray twice.”
    prayer

    “Unless you believe, you will not understand.”
    faith

    “This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.”
    humility

    “Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.”
    health

    “Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.”
    gratitudehumility

    “If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”
    pridescripture

    “Why persist in walking difficult and toilsome paths? There is no repose where you are seeking it. Search as you like, it is not where you are looking. You are seeking a happy life in the realm of death, and it will not be found there. How could life be happy where there is no life at all?”
    joy

    “If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.”
    friends

    “Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.”
    conversion

  • St. BartholomewOpen or Close

    “Once you begin to believe there is help 'out there,' you will know it to be true.”
    faith

    “Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond the pain.”
    courage

    “Spend time every day listening to what your muse is trying to tell you.”
    dialogue

  • St. Basil the GreatOpen or Close

    “O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all your necessities. Call her to your assistance, for such is the divine Will that she should help in every kind of necessity.”
    maryprayer

    “Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God 'Father' and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.”
    holy trinity

    “When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.”
    faith

    “By the command of your only-begotten Son we communicate with the memory of your saints...by whose prayers and supplications have mercy upon us all, and deliver us for the sake of your holy name.”
    mercy

    “What is the mark of love for your neighbor? Not to seek what is for your own benefit, but what is for the benefit of the one loved, both in body and in soul.”
    kindness

    “Of the dogmas and messages preserved in the Church, some we possess from written teaching and others we receive from the tradition of the apostles, handed on to us in mystery. In respect to piety, both are of the same force. No one will contradict any of these, no one, at any rate, who is even moderately versed in matters ecclesiastical. Indeed, were we to try to reject unwritten customs as having no great authority, we would unwittingly injure the gospel in its vitals; or rather, we would reduce the Christian message to a mere term.”
    mystery

    “We should not accept in silence the benefactions of God, but return thanks for them.”
    gratitude

    “There is still time for endurance, time for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners, but leap aside.”
    reconciliation

    “The bread in your box belongs to the hungry; the cloak in your closet belongs to the naked; the shoes you do not wear belong to the barefoot; the money in your vault belongs to the destitute.”
    charity

  • St. Benedict of NursiaOpen or Close

    “Remember, you have undertaken care of the sick…not tyranny over the healthy.”
    kindness

    “Prayer ought to be short and pure, unless it be prolonged by the inspiration of Divine grace.”
    prayer

    “Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout reading.”
    sloth

    “He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.”
    diligenceprayer

    “Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection.”
    diligenceprayer

    “Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ; discipline your body; do not pamper yourself, but love fasting.”
    lenthealth

    “Girded with faith and the performance of good works, let us follow in His paths by the guidance of the Gospel.”
    scripturefaith

  • St. Bernadette SoubirousOpen or Close

    “You must receive God well; give Him a loving welcome, for then He has to pay us rent.”
    grace

    “I went back each day for fifteen days, and each time, except one Monday and one Friday, the Lady appeared and told me to look for a stream and wash in it and to see that the priests build a chapel there. I must also pray, she said, for the conversion of sinners. I asked her many times what she meant by that, but she only smiled. Finally, with outstretched arms and eyes looking up to heaven, she told me she was the Immaculate Conception.”
    obediencemary

    “She (the Blessed Mother) could not promise to make me happy in this world, only in the next.”
    joymary

  • St. Bernard of ClairvauxOpen or Close

    “In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; invoking her, you shall never lose heart.”
    marytemptation

    “Eve was a thorn, wounding, bringing death to all; in Mary we see a rose, soothing everybody's hurts, giving the destiny of salvation back to all. Mary was a rose, white for maidenhood, red for love; white in body, red in soul; white in her seeking after virtue, red in treading down vice; white in cleansing her affections, red in mortifying her flesh; white in her love of God, red in compassion for her neighbor.”
    mary

    “Inordinate love for the flesh is cruelty, because under the appearance of pleasing the body, we kill the soul.”
    lust

    “The tears of the penitents are wine for the angels.”
    penance

    “Are you troubled? Think but of Jesus, speak but the name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? So that you fear death? invoke the name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy name; there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name.”
    temptationsin

    “We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable.”
    love

    “Love is sufficient of itself; it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in the practice. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return. The sole purpose of his love is to be loved, int he knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.”
    love

  • St. Bernardine of SienaOpen or Close

    “Every grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us.”
    marygrace

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

    “By word of mouth, by letters, by miracles, and by the example of his own life, Saint Paul bore the name of Jesus wherever he went. He praised the name of Jesus 'at all times,' but never more than when 'bearing witness to his faith.'”
    saints

    “There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand. This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord, and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying “Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally.”
    josephsaints

  • St. Bonaventure of BagnoregioOpen or Close

    “The life of God — precisely because God is triune — does not belong to God alone. God who dwells in inaccessible light and eternal glory comes to us in the face of Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s outreach to the creature, God is said to be essentially relational, ecstatic, fecund, alive as passionate love. Divine life is therefore also our life. The heart of the Christian life is to be united with the God of Jesus Christ by means of communion with one another. The doctrine of the Trinity is, ultimately, therefore a teaching not about the abstract nature of God, nor about God in isolation from everything other than God, but a teaching about God’s life with us and our life with each other.”
    holy trinity

    “Since happiness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest good and since the highest good is above, no one can be happy unless he rises above himself, not by an ascent of the body, but of the heart.”
    joy

    “In God alone is there primordial and true delight, and in all our delights it is this delight that we are seeking.”
    joy

    “Three things are necessary to everyone regardless of status, sex, or age, i.e., truth of faith which brings understanding; love of Christ which brings compassion; endurance of hope which brings perseverance. No adult is in state of salvation unless he has faithful understanding in his mind, loving compassion in his heart, and enduring perseverance in his actions.”
    salvationvirtue

    “When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard more than the proceedings from the mouth.”
    prayer

    “Mary seeks for those who approach her devoutly and with reverence, for such she loves, nourishes, and adopts as her children.”
    maryprayer

    “In beautiful things St. Francis saw Beauty itself, and through His vestiges imprinted on creation he followed his Beloved everywhere, making from all things a ladder by which he could climb up and embrace Him who is utterly desirable. If you desire to know … ask grace, not instruction; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not diligent reading; the Spouse, not the teacher; God, not man; darkness not clarity; not light, but fire that totally inflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections.”
    saints

    “I confess before God that what made me love Saint Francis’ way of life so much was that it is exactly like the origin and the perfection of the Church itself, which began first with simple fishermen and afterward developed to include the most illustrious and learned doctors. You find the same thing in the Order of Saint Francis; in this way God reveals that it did not come about through human calculations but through Christ.”
    saints

  • St. BonifaceOpen or Close

    “Let us trust in Him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For He is all-powerful, and He tells us: 'My yoke is easy, and my burden light.'”
    obediencesuffering

    “Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, "let us die for the holy laws of our fathers," so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them.”
    martyrs

    “Cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by good.”
    martyrspeace

  • St. Bridget of SwedenOpen or Close

    “The world would have peace if only men of politics would follow the Gospels.”
    peacepoliticsscripture

    “Let everyone who has the grace of intelligence fear that, because of it, he will be judged more heavily if he is negligent.”
    educationjustice

    “There is no sinner in the world, however much at enmity with God, who cannot recover God's grace by recourse to Mary, and by asking her assistance.”
    maryreconciliation

    “Rejoicing and eternal praise be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, who sent the Holy Spirit into the hearts of your disciples and increased the boundless love of God in their spirits.”
    holy trinityprayer

  • St. Brigid of KildareOpen or Close

    “Christ lives in every creature.”
    grace

    “I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all parts. I would like myself to be a rent payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity.”
    hopeprayervirtue

  • St. BrunoOpen or Close

    “No act is charitable if it is not just.”
    charityjustice

    “By your work you show what you love and what you know.”
    diligence

    “While the world changes, the cross stands firm”
    tradition

    “Those who are called to the eremetical life must have a happy soul, for nothing is more destructive than sadness.”
    joyvocation

    “Rejoice, my dearest brothers, because you are blessed and because of the bountiful hand of God's grace upon you. Rejoice, because you have escaped the various dangers and shipwrecks of the stormy world. Rejoice because you have reached the quiet and safe anchorage of a secret harbor. Many wish to come into this port, and many make great efforts to do so, yet do not achieve it. Indeed many, after reaching it, have been thrust out, since it was not granted them from above.”
    joymercy

  • St. Catherine of GenoaOpen or Close

    “I find only one fault with you, death, that you are too niggardly with those who long for you, and too lavish with those who flee from you.”
    death

    “If it were given to a man to see virtue's reward in the next world, he would occupy his intellect, memory and will in nothing but good works, careless of danger or fatigue.”
    virtue

    “It remains for us to pray the Lord, of His great goodness and by the intercession of this glorious Seraphin, to give us His love abundantly, that we may not cease to grow in virtue, and may at last win to eternal beatitude with God who lives and reigns for ever and ever.”
    virtue

    “When gold has been purified up to twenty-four carats, it can no longer be consumed by any fire; not gold itself but only dross can be burnt away. Thus the divine fire works in the soul: God holds the soul in the fire until its every imperfection is burnt away and it is brought to perfection, as it were to the purity of twenty-four carats, each soul however according to its own degree. When the soul has been purified it stays wholly in God, having nothing of self in it; its being is in God who has led this cleansed soul to Himself; it can suffer no more for nothing is left in it to be burnt away; were it held in the fire when it has thus been cleansed, it would feel no pain. Rather the fire of divine love would be to it like eternal life and in no way contrary to it.”
    virtuesacrifice

  • St. Catherine of SienaOpen or Close

    “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.”
    lovesalvation

    “We've had enough if exhortations to be silent! Cry out with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence.”
    dialogueevangelization

    “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire. Let the truth be your delight...proclaim it...but with a certain congeniality.”
    virtue

    “This my goodness does to endow the souls of the just more fully with spiritual riches when for my love they are stripped of material goods because they have renounced the world and all its pleasures and even their own will. These are the ones who fatten their souls, enlarging them in the abyss of my charity. Then I become their spiritual provider. The Holy Spirit becomes their servant.”
    charity

    “Charity is the sweet and holy bond which links the soul with its Creator: it binds God with man and man with God.”
    charity

    “Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light, and causes me to know your truth. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.”
    holy trinity

  • St. Charles BorromeoOpen or Close

    “If a tiny spark of God's love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.”
    temptationdialogue

    “Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.”
    deceit

    “We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: "I will pray, and then I will understand."

    This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work. In meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men.”
    prayer

  • St. Clare of AssisiOpen or Close

    “Love God, serve God; everything is in that.”
    lovediligence

    “Look, look on Jesus, poor and crucified, look on this Holy One, who for your love has died, and remember as you contemplate the sacred mysteries, this Jesus whom you gaze upon, loves you most tenderly.”
    lovesacrifice

    “Rejoice and be glad that so great and good a Lord, on coming into the Virgin's womb, willed to appear despised, needy, and poor in this world, so that men who were in dire poverty and suffering great need of heavenly food might be made rich in him.”
    christmas

    “Cling to His most sweet Mother, who carried a Son whom the heavens could not contain; and yet she carried Him in the little enclosure of her holy womb and held Him on her virginal lap.”
    Mary

    “Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.”
    faith

  • St. Claude de la ColombiereOpen or Close

    “If you are sinful, repent so that you can communicate often. If you are imperfect, go often to Communion that you may amend your faults.”
    sineucharist

    “Jesus Christ can do very little if He cannot uphold me from day to day. He will not fail to reproach me if I begin to relax; each day He will counsel me and give me new strength; He will instruct, console, and encourage me and give me all the graces for which I pray.”
    dominion

    “If from time to time we meditated seriously on this truth of our faith it would be enough to stifle all complaint in whatever loss or misfortune we suffer. What I have the Lord gave me, it has been taken away by Him. It is not a lawsuit or a thief that has ruined you or a certain person that has slandered you; if your child dies it is not by accident or wrong treatment, but because God, to whom all belongs, has not wished you to keep it longer.”
    dominion

    “To prefer man to God: A strange and unhappy slavery is that of a man who seeks to please other men. I vow never to do anything nor to leave anything undone because of what people think. This will set up in me a great interior peace.”
    dominion

    “I feel so persuaded, O my God, that You graciously watch over those who hope in Thee, and that no one need require anything so long as they look up to Thee in all things, that I am determined for the future to lay at Your feet, all my anxieties and troubles.”
    trust

  • St. Colette of CorbieOpen or Close

    “If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.”
    suffering

    “We must faithfully keep what we have promised. If through human weakness we fail, we must always without delay arise again by means of holy penance, and give our attention to leading a good life and to dying a holy death. May the Father of all mercy, the Son by his holy passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of peace, sweetness and love, fill us with their consolation. Amen.”
    obedience

  • St. ColumbanusOpen or Close

    “Nothing is sweeter than the calm of conscience, nothing safer than purity of soul — yet no one can bestow this on himself because it is properly the gift of God's grace.”
    peacegrace

    “All we Irish dwelling on the edge of the world are disciples of Saints Peter and Paul and of the disciples who, under the Holy Spirit, wrote the Sacred Canon. We accept nothing outside this evangelical and apostolic teaching. There was no heretic, no Jew, no schismatic, but the Catholic Faith, as first delivered to us by you, the successor of the apostles, is kept unshaken.... We, indeed, are, as I have said, chained to the Chair of Saint Peter; for although Rome is great and known afar, it is great and honored with us only by this Chair.”
    obedience

  • St. Cyprian of CarthageOpen or Close

    “As to what pertains to the case of infants: You (Fidus) said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born.”
    baptismchildren

    “You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body.... If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace.”
    faithpeace

  • St. CyrilOpen or Close

    “Make your people known for the unity and profession of their faith. Inspire the hearts of your people with your word and your teaching. You called us to preach the Gospel of your Christ and to encourage them to lives and works pleasing to you.”
    evangelization

  • St. Cyril of AlexandriaOpen or Close

    “It is like employing a small tool on big constructions, if we use human wisdom in the hunt for knowledge of reality.”
    mystery

    “While the two natures that came into the true union were different, yet He became one Christ, the only begotten son. This is a Mystery that surpasses any discription or explanation.”
    mystery

    “Our Savior went to the wedding feast to make holy the origins of human life.”
    lifemarriage

    “The ancient doctrines must be confirmed, but novel and absurd inventions must be condemned and cast aside.”
    tradition

    “The divinely inspired Scriptures affirm that the Word of God was made flesh, that is to say, he was united to a human body endowed with a rational soul. He undertook to help the descendants of Abraham, fashioning a body for himself from a woman and sharing our flesh and blood, to enable us to see in him not only God, but also, by reason of this union, a man like ourselves. It is held, therefore, that there is in Emmanuel two entities, divinity and humanity. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ is nonetheless one, the one true Son, both God and man; not a defied man on the same footing as those who share the divine nature by grace, but true God who for our sake appeared in human form.”
    holy trinity

  • St. Cyril of JerusalemOpen or Close

    “Since Christ Himself has said, 'This is My Body' who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?”
    eucharist

    “But beware of supposing that this is ordinary ointment. For just as the Bread of the Eucharist after the invocation of the Holy Spirit is simple bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no longer plain ointment, nor, so to speak, common, after the invocation. Rather, it is the gracious gift of Christ; and it is made fit for the imparting of His Godhead by the coming of the Holy Spirit. This ointment is symbolically applied to your forehead and to your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the holy and life-creating Spirit.”
    confirmationgrace

    “Just as Christ, after His baptism and the coming upon Him of the Holy Spirit went forth and defeated the adversary, so also with you. After holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the full suit of armor of the Holy Spirit, you are to withstand the power of the adversary, and defeat him, saying, 'I am able to do all things in Christ, Who strengthens me.'”
    confirmationbaptism

    “Only a pure soul can boldly say: 'Thy kingdom come.' One who has heard Paul say, 'Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies,' and has purified himself in action, thought, and word will say to God: 'Thy kingdom come!'”
    obedience

  • St. Damien of MolokaiOpen or Close

    “I feel no disgust when I hear the confessions of those near their end, whose wounds are full of maggots...This may give you some idea of my daily work. Picture to yourself a collection of huts with 800 lepers. No doctor; in fact, as there is no cure, there seems no place for a doctor's skill.”
    reconciliationmercy

    “The Blessed Sacrament is indeed the stimulus for us all, for me as it should be for you, to forsake all worldly ambitions.”
    eucharist

    “Holy Communion being the daily bread of a priest, I feel myself happy, well-pleased, and resigned in the rather exceptional circumstances in which it has pleased Divine Providence to put me.”
    eucharistjoy

    “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.”
    sacrifice

  • St. Daniel ComboniOpen or Close

    “The missionaries will have to understand that they are stones hid under the earth, which will perhaps never come to light, but which will become part of the foundations of a vast, new building.”
    evangelization

    “We will have to labor hard, to sweat, to die: but the thought that one sweats and dies for love of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the most abandoned souls in the world, is far too sweet for us to desist from this great enterprise.”
    diligencesalvation

  • St. Dominic de GuzmanOpen or Close

    “A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.”
    diligence

    “Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword; wear humility rather than fine clothes.”
    humilityprayer

  • St. Dominic SavioOpen or Close

    “I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.”
    humility

    “Here, we make sanctity consist in always being cheerful.”
    joy

    “Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a Master who pays well, who rewards even a cup of cold water given for love of Him.”
    obedience

  • St. Edith SteinOpen or Close

    “One cannot desire freedom from the Cross when one is especially chosen for the Cross.”
    sacrifice

    “In the childhood of the spiritual life, when we have just begun to allow ourselves to be directed by God, we feel his guiding hand quite firmly and surely. But it doesn't always stay that way. Whoever belongs to Christ must go the whole way with him. He must mature to adulthood: He must one day or other walk the way of the cross to Gethsemane and Golgotha.”
    obedience

    “The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.”
    patriotism

    “If anyone comes to me, I want to lead them to Him.”
    evangelization

    “On the question of relating to our fellowman — our neighbor’s spiritual need transcends every commandment. Everything else we do is a means to an end. But love is an end already, since God is love.”
    love

    “Whoever surrenders unconditionally to the Lord will be chosen by him as an instrument for building his kingdom.”
    trust

    “My longing for truth was a single prayer.”
    prayer

    “In order to be an image of God, the spirit must turn to what is eternal, hold it in spirit, keep it in memory, and by loving it, embrace it in the will.”
    faith

    “One could say that in case of need, every normal and healthy woman is able to hold a position. And there is no profession which cannot be practiced by a woman.”
    gendervocation

    “Every true prayer is a prayer of the Church; by means of that prayer the Church prays, since it is the Holy Spirit living in the Church, Who in every single soul ‘prays in us with unspeakable groanings.’”
    prayer

    “As for what concerns our relations with our fellow men, the anguish in our neighbor’s soul must break all precept. All that we do is a means to an end, but love is an end in itself, because God is love.”
    friends

    “The limitless loving devotion to God, and the gift God makes of Himself to you, are the highest elevation of which the heart is capable; it is the highest degree of prayer. The souls that have reached this point are truly the heart of the Church.”
    love

    “I told our Lord that I knew it (The Holocaust) was His cross that was now being placed upon the Jewish people; that most of them did not understand this, but that those who did would have to take it up willingly in the name of all. I would do that. At the end of the service, I was certain that I had been heard. But what this carrying of the cross was to consist in, that I did not yet know.”
    suffering

    “Those who join the Carmelite Order are not lost to their near and dear ones, but have been won for them, because it is our vocation to intercede to God for everyone.”
    vocation

    “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.”
    obedience

    “The soul of woman must be expansive and open to all human beings, it must be quiet so that no small weak flame will be extinguished by stormy winds; warm so as not to benumb fragile buds... empty of itself, in order that extraneous life may have room in it; finally, mistress of itself and also of its body, so that the entire person is readily at the disposal of every call.”
    genderhumility

  • St. Edmund CampionOpen or Close

    “As to the treasons which have been laid to my charge, and for which I come here to suffer, I desire you all to bear witness with me that I am thereto altogether innocent. I am a Catholic man and a priest; in that Faith I have lived, and in that Faith do I intend to die. If you esteem my Religion treason, then I am guilty; as for the other treason, I never committed any, God is my judge.”
    martyrs

    “And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league — all the Jesuits in the world — cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted; so it must be restored.”
    martyrs

    “In condemning us, you condemn all your own ancestors, all our ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England — the island of saints, and the most devoted child of the See of Peter.”
    martyrs

  • St. Elizabeth of HungaryOpen or Close

    “How could I bear a crown of gold when the Lord bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me!”
    humility

    “I want to adorn myself, not out of worldly pride, but for the love of God alone — in a fitting manner, however, so as to give my husband no cause to sin, if something about me were to displease him. Only let him love me in the Lord, with a chaste, marital affection, so that we, in the same way, might hope for the reward of eternal life from him who has sanctified the law of marriage.”
    chastitymarriage

    “As in heaven Your will is punctually performed, so may it be done on earth by all creatures, particularly in me and by me.”
    dominion

    “Everything I own really belongs to the poor.”
    charity

  • St. Elizabeth Ann SetonOpen or Close

    “The gate of heaven is very low; only the humble can enter it.”
    humility

    “I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where the true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God himself.”
    conversion

    “We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life. We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.”
    grace

    “Put your heart at His feet. It is the gift He loves most.”
    love

    “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.”
    obediencediligence

    “We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him.”
    prayer

    “The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.”
    sinfriendslove

    “And in every disappointment, great or small, let your heart fly directly to your dear Savior, throwing yourself in those arms for refuge against every pain and sorrow. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you.”
    hope

    “God is everywhere, in the very air I breathe, yes everywhere, but in His Sacrament of the Altar He is as present actually and really as my soul within my body; in His Sacrifice daily offered as really as once offered on the Cross.”
    eucharistgrace

    “The heart preparing to receive the Holy Eucharist should be like a crystal vase.”
    eucharistsacraments

  • St. Emily de VialarOpen or Close

    “Quietly to trust in God is better than trying to safeguard material interests: I learned that by bitter experience.”
    greedtrust

    “Since God does so much for me, what could I not do for him?”
    sacrifice

    “My only desire is to accomplish God’s will.”
    obedience

  • St. Ephrem of SyriaOpen or Close

    “Forget not the Holy Spirit at the moment of your enlightenment; He is ready to mark your soul with His seal.... He will give you the heavenly and divine seal which makes the devil tremble; He will arm you for the fight; He will give you strength.”
    confirmation

    “Chrism and Baptism; oil also for a most sweet unguent, wherewith they who already have been initiated by Baptism are sealed, and put on the armor of the Holy Spirit.”
    confirmation

    “You victorious martyrs who endured torments gladly for the sake of the God and Savior, you who have boldness of speech toward the Lord himself, you saints, intercede for us who are timid and sinful men, full of sloth, that the grace of Christ may come upon us, and enlighten the hearts of all of us that so we may love him.”
    martyrs

    “Virtues are formed by prayer.
    Prayer preserves temperance.
    Prayer suppresses anger.
    Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy.
    Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven.”
    prayer

  • St. Epiphanius of SalamisOpen or Close

    “It is needful also to make use of tradition, for not everything can be gotten from sacred Scripture. The holy apostles handed down some things in the scriptures, other things in tradition.”
    traditionsacraments

    “We believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church, and in one Baptism of repentance, and in the resurrection of the dead and the just judgement of souls and bodies, and in the kingdom of heaven, and in eternal life.

    But those who say that there was a time when the Son or the Holy Spirit was not, or was made out of nothing or of another substance or essence, who say the Son of God or the Holy Spirit is liable to change or to becoming different, these people the Catholic and Apostolic Church, your Mother and ours, anathematizes; and again we anathematize those who do not confess the resurrection of the dead, and all heresies which are not consistent with this, the true faith.”
    culturefaith

  • St. Eugene de MazenodOpen or Close

    “To love the Church is to love Jesus Christ, and vice versa.”
    love

    “We glorify God in the masterpiece of His power and love...it is the Son whom we honor in the person of His Mother.”
    mary

    “I find my happiness in pastoral work. It is for this that I am a bishop, and not to write books, still less to pay court to the great, or to waste my time among the rich. It is true...that this is not the way to become a cardinal, but if one could become a saint, would it not be better still?”
    vocation

  • St. Faustina KowalskaOpen or Close

    “God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed he gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit — that is the shortest route.”
    faithgrace

    “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.”
    obedience

    “O my Lord. Inflame my heart with love for You, that my spirit may not grow weary amidst the storms, the sufferings and the trials.”
    temptation

    “For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray — that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy. And when the Last Day comes, we shall be judged from this, and on this basis we shall receive the eternal verdict.”
    mercyjustice

    “And I understood that the greatest attribute of God is love and mercy. It unites the creature with the Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption (of humanity), and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God’s attributes.”
    mercysalvation

  • St. Fidelis of SigmaringenOpen or Close

    “Woe to me if I should prove myself but a half-hearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.”
    sacrifice

    “It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future.”
    faithhope

  • St. Frances CabriniOpen or Close

    “I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.”
    evangelization

    “We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.”
    prayer

  • St. Francis of AssisiOpen or Close

    “Where there is fear of the Lord to guard the gateway, there the enemy can hold for an entry.”
    fearevil

    “Nothing ought to be so disagreeable to a servant of God but sin.”
    sin

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

    “The Law of Christ, which finds its fulfillment in charity, binds us to desire the welfare of people's soul more than that of the body.”
    healthsalvation

    “We ought to fast, and to abstain from all vice, and from all that will lead us into sin, as well as from extravagance and superfluity. We should often visit the churches, and venerate and reverence all ecclesiastics on account of their office, and because they distribute the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ, which they offer in sacrifice, receive themselves, and administer to others. And let everyone know and hold for certain that we cannot be saved except through the sacred Words and the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which priests preach, announce, and distribute, and of which they are the sole ministers.”
    lentsalvation

    “Alms are an inheritance and a justice which is due to the poor and which Jesus has levied upon us.”
    almsgiving

    “Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.”
    almsgiving

    “Jesus is happy to come with us, as truth is happy to be spoken, as life to be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to be loved, as joy to be given, as peace to be spread.”
    grace

    “Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.”
    virtueevangelization

    “Take a moment to think of everything you're proud of about yourself and your life. Then ask yourself if you would have any of this without God's permission and aid? Give credit where credit is due; praise and thank Him, not yourself.”
    pridegratitude

    “Nor did demons crucify Him; it is you who have crucified Him and crucify Him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.”
    sin

    “If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
    mercy

    “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
    reconciliation

    “I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.”
    grace

    “True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.”
    conversion

    “Start by doing what is necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
    diligence

    “It is not fitting, when one is in God’s service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.”
    joy

    “What does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.”
    eucharistsacraments

    “Everyday, Jesus humbles himself just as He did when He came from His heavenly throne into the Virgin’s womb; everyday He comes to us and lets us see Him in abjection, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar.”
    eucharisthumility

    “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
    hope

    “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.”
    virtue

  • St. Francis of PaolaOpen or Close

    “Be peace-loving. Peace is a precious treasure to be sought with great zeal. You are well aware that our sins arouse God's anger. You must change your life, therefore, so that God in his mercy will pardon you. What we conceal from men is known to God. Be converted, then, with a sincere heart. Live your life that you may receive the blessing of the Lord. Then the peace of God our Father will be with you always.”
    peacemercy

    “Fix your minds on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.”
    sacrifice

  • St. Francis de SalesOpen or Close

    “Worldly friendship is profuse in honeyed words…while true friendship speaks a simple honest language, lauding nought save the Grace of God, its one only foundation.”
    dialoguefriends

    “Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow. Then same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”
    trust

    “Nothing makes us so prosperous in this world as to give alms.”
    almsgiving

    “We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.”
    diligencegratitude

    “An action of small value performed with much love of God is far more excellent than one of a higher virtue, done with less love of God.”
    diligencelove

    “Lent is the autumn of the spiritual life during which we gather fruit to keep us going for the rest of the year. Enrich yourselves with these treasures, which nobody can take away from you and which cannot be destroyed. I am accustomed to say that we will not spend Lent well unless we are determined to make the most of it. Let us, therefore, spend this Lent as if it were our last, and we will make it well. Listen to the sermons, because holy words are pearls; they are ships of infinite mercy — the true ocean of the East.”
    lent

    “Our entire good consists not only in accepting the truth of God's word, but in persevering in it.”
    obedience

    “Salvation is shown to faith, it is prepared for hope, but it is given only to charity. Faith points out the way to the land of promise as a pillar of fire hope feeds us with its manna of sweetness, but charity actually introduces us into the Promised Land.”
    charitysalvation

    “There is nothing which edifies others so much as charity and kindness, by which, as by the oil in our lamp, the flame of good example is kept alive.”
    charitykindness

    “I leave you the spirit of liberty — not that which excludes obedience, for that is the liberty of the flesh; but that which excludes restraint, scruple, and worry.”
    freedom

    “In the royal galley of divine Love, there is no galley slave: all rowers are volunteers.”
    freedom

    “Some torment themselves in seeking means to discover the art of loving God, and do not know — poor creatures — that there is no art or means of loving Him but to love those who love Him — that is, to begin to practice those things which are pleasing to Him.”
    love

    “All of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be.”
    conversion

    “God takes pleasure to see you take your little steps; and like a good father who holds his child by the hand, He will accommodate His steps to yours and will be content to go no faster than you.”
    conversion

    “Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.”
    trustmary

    “Do you ask how to resist anger? As soon as you feel the slightest resentment, gather together your powers, not hastily or impetuously, but gently and seriously. For as in some law courts, the criers make more noise in their efforts to preserve quiet than those they seek to still, so, if we are impetuous in our attempts to restrain our anger, we cause greater discomposure in our hearts than before; and once thrown off its balance, the heart is no longer its own master.”
    peace

    “True humility scarcely ever utters words of humility.”
    humility

    “You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.”
    educationlove

    “We can never attain to perfection while we have an affection for any imperfection.”
    sin

    “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew.”
    patiencereconciliation

    “Many who confess their venial sins out of custom and concern for order but without thought of amendment remain burdened with them for their whole life and thus lose many spiritual benefits and advantages.”
    reconciliation

    “We shall steer safely through every storm so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God.”
    trusthope

    “Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.”
    faithjoy

    “All true and living devotion presupposes the love of God and indeed it is neither more nor less than a very real love of God, though not always of the same kind; for that Love one while shining on the soul we call grace, which makes us acceptable to His Divine Majesty; when it strengthens us to do well, it is called Charity; but when it attains its fullest perfection, in which it not only leads us to do well, but to act carefully, diligently, and promptly, then it is called Devotion.”
    devotiongrace

    “People can pass thirty nights in dancing and no one complains about it, but if they watch through a single Christmas night they cough and claim their stomach is upset the next morning. Does anyone fail to see that the world is an unjust judge, gracious and well disposed to its own children but harsh and rigorous towards the children of God?”
    culturejustice

    “Do everything calmly and peacefully. Do as much as you can as well as you can. Strive to see God in all things without exception, and consent to His will joyously. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to him in word and deed. Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord and be at peace with yourself.”
    diligencepeace

  • St. Francis XavierOpen or Close

    “Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians.”
    evangelization

    “I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: 'The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'”
    evangelizationbaptism

    “It is not the actual physical exertion that counts toward a man’s progress, nor the nature of the task, but the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.”
    diligencehope

  • St. Gabriel PossentiOpen or Close

    “I will attempt day by day to break my will into pieces. I want to do God's Holy Will, not my own!”
    obedience

    ““Love Mary!… She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity.”
    marymercy

    “With sin, O Jesus, I gave you the death, but I do not despair of your forgiveness. Those scourges call me, those arms extended invite me, that injured Heart offers me a secure shelter.”
    salvation

    “Our perfection does not consist of doing extraordinary things but to do the ordinary well.”
    diligence

    “My sole merit lies in Your wounds.”
    salvation

    “Do not bestow your love on the world.”
    culture

  • St. Gemma GalganiOpen or Close

    “If I saw the gates of Hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss, I should not despair, I should not lose hope of mercy, because I should trust in You, my God.”
    courage

    “O my soul, bless Jesus. Never forget the many graces He has given thee. Love that God who so loves thee. Lift thyself up to Him, who has lowered Himself for thee; show thyself as He shows Himself with thee; be clean of heart, be pure. Love thy Jesus, who has lifted thee out of so much misery. Love thy God, bless thy Lord.”
    love

  • St. Genoveva Torres MoralesOpen or Close

    “Even if I must suffer greatly, thanks be to God's mercy, I will not lack courage.”
    mercy

    “I loved freedom of heart very much, and worked and am working to achieve it fully. It does the soul so much good that every effort is nothing compared with this free condition of the heart.”
    freedom

  • St. Gerard MajellaOpen or Close

    “The Most Blessed Sacrament is Christ made visible. The poor sick person is Christ again made visible.”
    eucharistmercy

    “Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?”
    peace

  • St. Gianna Beretta MollaOpen or Close

    “O Jesus, I promise you to submit myself to all that you permit to happen to me; make me only know your will.”
    obedience

    “If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child — I insist on it. Save him.”
    abortionlife

  • St. Gregory of NazianzusOpen or Close

    “God accepts our desires as though they were of great value. He longs ardently for us to desire and love him. He accepts our petitions for benefits as though we were doing him a favor. His joy in giving is greater than ours in receiving. So let us not be apathetic in our asking, nor set too narrow bounds to our requests; nor ask for frivolous things unworthy of God's greatness.”
    prayer

    “Let it be assured that to do no wrong is really superhuman and belongs to God alone.”
    sin

    “We know with holy and Catholic Faith that what was not assumed, was not redeemed.”
    salvation

    “Let us not esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment, but let us live elsewhere, and raise all our attention to Heaven; esteeming sin as the only true evil, and nothing truly good, but virtue which unites us to God.”
    temptation

    “Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with Him; let us go down with Him to be raised with Him; and let us rise with Him to be glorified with Him.”
    baptism

    “Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could.”
    charity

    “Let us put into practice the supreme and primary law of God. He sends down rain on just and sinful alike, and causes the sun to rise on all without distinction. To all earth’s creatures he has given the broad earth, the springs, the rivers and the forests. He has given the air to the birds, and the waters to those who live in the water. He has given abundantly to all the basic needs of life, not as a private possession, not restricted by law, not divided by boundaries, but as common to all, amply and in rich measure. His gifts are not deficient in any way, because he wanted to give equality of blessing to equality of worth, and to show the abundance of his generosity.”
    justice

  • St. Gregory of NyssaOpen or Close

    “May we never risk the life of our souls by being resentful or by bearing grudges.”
    pride

    “Peace is defined as harmony among those who are divided. When, therefore, we end the civil war within our nature and cultivate peace within ourselves, we become at peace.”
    peace

    “If we truly think of Christ as our source of holiness, we shall refrain from anything wicked or impure in thought or act and thus show ourselves to be worthy bearers of his name. For the quality of holiness is shown not by what we say but by what we do in life.”
    grace

    “Christian perfection has but one limit, that of having none.”
    virtue

    “If by a diligent life of virtue, you wash away the film of dirt that covers your heart, then the divine beauty will shine forth in you.”
    virtue

  • St. Hilary of PoitiersOpen or Close

    “To those who wish to stand in God's grace, neither the guardianship of saints nor the defenses of angels are wanting.”
    grace

    “For Christ teaches that only those who become again as it were little children, and by the simplicity of that age cut off the inordinate affections of vice, can enter the kingdom of heaven. These follow and obey their father, love their mother; are strangers to covetousness, ill-will, hatred, arrogance, and lying, and are inclined easily to believe what they hear. This disposition of affections opens the way to heaven. We must therefore return to the simplicity of little children, in which we shall bear some resemblance to our Lord's humility.”
    childrenobedience

  • St. Hildegard of BingenOpen or Close

    “You are encircled by the arms of the mystery of God.”
    grace

    “A human being is a vessel that God has built for himself and filled with his inspiration so that his works are perfected in it.”
    dominion

    “Like hairs on the head, mortal man is joined to Jesus Christ, the head of all, but they are full of transgressions and sins because of man's delight in the flesh. But the Church regenerates and purifies these from the unclean stench and filth of sin by penitence and confession, just as hair is cleansed from dew and drops, and as dust is shaken out and cleansed from wool.”
    dominionsalvation

    “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.”
    life

    “Love, which, in concert with Abstinence, established Faith, and which, along with Patience, builds up Chastity, is like the columns that sustain the four corners of a house. For it was that same Love which planted a glorious garden redolent with precious herbs and noble flowers — roses and lilies — which breathed forth a wondrous fragrance, that garden on which the true Solomon was accustomed to feast his eyes.”
    love

    “May the Holy Spirit enkindle you with the fire of His Love so that you may persevere, unfailingly, in the love of His service. Thus you may merit to become, at last, a living stone in the celestial Jerusalem.”
    love

    “Now, O son of God, set in the valley of true humility, walk in peace without pride of spirit, which, like a precipitous mountain, offers a difficult, or near-impossible, ascent or descent to those who attempt to scale it, and on its summit no building can be built. For a person who tries to climb higher than he can achieve possesses the name of sanctity without substance, because, in name alone without a structure of good works, he glories in a kind of vain joy of the mind.”
    pride

    “For when God gave great knowledge to the human being, the human being elevated himself in his soul and turned away from God. God so regarded the human being that he would perfect all his works in him. But the old deceiver tricked human beings and infected them with the crime of disobedience, by the delight of an unseasonable wind, so that they sought for more than they should have.”
    sin

    “Love abounds in all things,
    excels from the depths to beyond the stars,
    is lovingly disposed to all things.
    She has given the king on high
    the kiss of peace.”
    lovepeace

    “The devil keeps man from good with a thousand machinations spewed from his belly, so that when a person sighs to do good, he pierces him with his shafts; and when he desires to embrace God with his whole heart in love, he subjects him to poisonous tribulations, seeking to pervert good work before God. And when a person seeks the viridity of virtue, the devil tells him that he does not know what he is doing, and he teaches him that he can set his own law for himself.”
    deceit

  • St. HippolytusOpen or Close

    “Christ, like a skillful physician, understands the weakness of men. He loves to teach the ignorant and the erring he turns again to his own true way. He is easily found by those who live by faith and to those of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, he opens immediately.”
    salvation

    “Fly to the Catholic Church! Adhere to the only faith which continues to exist from the beginning, that faith which was preached by Paul and is upheld by the Chair of Peter.”
    tradition

    “For as the blessed prophets were made, so to speak, eyes for us, they foresaw through faith the mysteries of the word, and became ministers of these things also to succeeding generations, not only reporting the past, but also announcing the present and the future, so that the prophet might not appear to be one only for the time being, but might also predict the future for all generations, and so be reckoned a (true) prophet.”
    scripture

  • St. Ignatius of AntiochOpen or Close

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

    “I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast vouchsafed to honor me with a perfect love towards Thee, and hast made me to be bound with iron chains, like Thy Apostle Paul.”
    gratitude

    “Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church.”
    grace

    “Do everything as if He were dwelling in us. Thus we shall be His temples and He will be within us as our God — as He actually is.”
    diligencegrace

    “I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God.”
    grace

    “Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
    vocation

    “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible.”
    eucharist

    “Mary's virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God's silence.”
    humility

    “You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin,... he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate... he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.”
    truth

    “Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was in the flesh to the Father, and the apostles to Christ and to the Father and to the Spirit, so that there may be unity in flesh and in spirit.”
    obediencetrinity

    “The Lord did nothing either of himself or through his apostles without his Father, with whom he is united; so too, you should undertake nothing without the bishop and the presbyters [priests].”
    trinity

    “A Christian is not his own master, since all his time belongs to God.”
    dominion

    “See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is (administered) either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
    obediencetrinity

    “Take care, then, to be firmly grounded in the teachings of the Lord and his apostles so that you may prosper in all your doings both in body and in soul, in faith and in love, in the Son, and in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, along with your most worthy bishop and his spiritual crown, your presbyters, and with the deacons, who are men of God.”
    obediencetrinity

  • St. Ignatius of LoyolaOpen or Close

    “Lord, teach me to be generous.
    Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
    to give and not to count the cost,
    to fight and not to heed the wounds,
    to toil and not to seek for rest,
    to labor and not to ask for reward,
    save that of knowing that I do your will.”
    obedience

    “After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.”
    virtuetemptation

    “Do not let any occasion of gaining merit pass without taking care to draw some spiritual profit from it; as, for example, from a sharp word which someone may say to you; from an act of obedience imposed against your will; from an opportunity which may occur to humble yourself, or to practice charity, sweetness, and patience. All of these occasions are gain for you, and you should seek to procure them; and at the close of that day, when the greatest number of them have come to you, you should go to rest most cheerful and pleased, as the merchant does on the day when he had had most chance for making money; for on that day business has prospered with him.”
    virtue

    “It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey.”
    obediencelove

    “If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint.”
    sufferingsaints

    “True, I am in love with suffering, but I do not know if I deserve the honor.”
    suffering

    “Few souls understand what God would effect in them if they should give themselves entirely into his hands and allow his grace to act.”
    obediencegrace

    “We should always be disposed to believe that that which appears white is really black, if the hierarchy of the Church so decides.”
    truth

    “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will, all I have and all I possess. You gave it all to me; to you, Lord, I return it. It is all yours: do with me entirely as you will. Give me your love and your grace: this is enough for me.”
    gracedominion

  • St. IrenaeusOpen or Close

    “The glory of God is man fully alive.”
    life

    “Christ, who was called the Son of God before the ages, was manifested in the fulness of time, in order that He might cleanse us through His blood, who were under the power of sin, presenting us as pure sons to His Father, if we yield ourselves obediently to the chastisement of the Spirit. And in the end of time He shall come to do away with all evil, and to reconcile all things, in order that there may be an end of all impurities.”
    justiceholy trinity

    “The preaching of the Church truly continues without change and is everywhere the same. It has the testimony of the Prophets and Apostles and all their disciples.”
    tradition

    “Being obedient she (Mary) became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.”
    Maryobedience

    “As long as any one has the means of doing good to his neighbours, and does not do so, he shall be reckoned a stranger to the love of the Lord.”
    friends

  • St. Isaac JoguesOpen or Close

    “My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing His designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to Him, and not to spoil His work by our shortcomings.”
    obedience

    “We (missionaries) begged God to accept our lives and our blood and unite them to His life and His blood for the salvation of these tribes.”
    evangelizationmartyrs

  • St. Isidore of SevilleOpen or Close

    “In confession there is mercy. Believe it firmly, do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God.”
    reconciliationmercy

    “Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading.”
    prayereducation

    “If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.”
    prayerscripture

    “Reading the Holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns man's attention from the follies of the world and leads him to the love of God.”
    educationscripture

    “The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study.”
    education

    “The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.”
    educationscripture

    “All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned.”
    educationscripture

    “Heresy is from the Greek word meaning 'choice'.... But we are not permitted to believe whatever we choose, nor to choose whatever someone else has believed. We have the Apostles of God as authorities, who did not choose what they would believe but faithfully transmitted the teachings of Christ. So, even if an angel from heaven should preach otherwise, he shall be called anathema.”
    obedience

    “The man who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded, equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth.”
    educationsloth

    “Learning unsupported by grace may get into our ears; it never reaches the heart. But when God's grace touches our innermost minds to bring understanding, his word which has been received by the ear sinks deep into the heart.”
    educationgrace

  • St. Jaime Hilario BarbalOpen or Close

    “To die for Christ, my young friends, is to live.”
    martyrs

    “God be blessed; I’ll pray for all of you in heaven. What more could I desire than to die for no other crime but that of being a religious and for having made my contribution to the Christian education of children. Dear father and family, I have been judged and condemned to death. I accept the sentence with joy. No charges have been brought against me. I have been condemned to death only because I am a religious. Do not weep for me, I am not worthy of pity. I shall die for God and for my country. Farewell, I shall be waiting for you in heaven.”
    martyrs

  • St. Jane Frances de ChantalOpen or Close

    “Hell is full of the talented, but Heaven of the energetic.”
    diligence

    “There is no danger if our prayer is without words or reflection because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. It depends upon the simple raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of feeling it is, the surer it is.”
    prayer

    “We should go to prayer with deep humility and an awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then remain still in God's presence, full of faith that He is more in us than we are in ourselves.”
    prayerhumility

    “You must refuse nothing you recognize to be His will.”
    obedience

    “Let us follow the star of inspiration and divine attraction, which calls us to the crib, and let us go thither to adore and love the child Jesus and offer ourselves to him.”
    worshipchristmas

  • St. Jeanne-Marie KerguinOpen or Close

    “Do not be afraid. Death is only God who is passing by.”
    couragedeath

    “I am happy to have to suffer. When one suffers one is detached from the world. God wishes that I love more than all else; He has been so generous to me and has done so much for me since I came into this world.”
    suffering

  • St. JeromeOpen or Close

    “Haste is of the Devil.”
    patience

    “For the Lord is gracious and merciful and prefers the conversion of a sinner rather than his death. Patient and generous in his mercy, he does not give in to human impatience but is willing to wait a long time for our repentance.”
    mercypatience

    “Beauty when unadorned is adorned the most.”
    humility

    “Whosoever you are who introduce new doctrines, I beseech you to spare the ears of Romans! Spare that faith which was commended by the voice of an Apostle. Why should you attempt to teach us, at the end of hundreds of years, that which we never heard before? Why bring forward what Peter and Paul did not will to make known? Until this day, the world was Christian without your doctrine. Thus, I hold as an old man onto that faith wherein I was regenerated as a boy.”
    tradition

    “When the stomach is full, it is easy to talk of fasting.”
    fastinglent

    “That which nature possesses not, which custom uses not, which eclipses reason, which the mind of man is unable to compass, which makes the heavens tremble, and strikes dumb the earth, which amazes every inhabitant of Heaven, all this was divinely announced by Gabriel to Mary, and was fulfilled in Christ.”
    mystery

    “Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.”
    diligencesin

    “If a soul is not clothed with the teachings of the Church he cannot merit to have Jesus seated in him.”
    apostasy

    “Marriage is good for those who are afraid to sleep alone at night.”
    marriagefear

    “The friendship that can cease has never been real.”
    friends

    “True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks.”
    friends

    “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
    educationscripture

    “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.”
    deceit

  • St. Jerome EmilianiOpen or Close

    “If then you remain constant in faith in the face of trial, the Lord will give you peace and rest for a time in this world, and for ever in the next.”
    temptation

    “Our Goal is God, the source of all good. As we say in our prayer, we are to place our trust in God and in no one else. In his kindness, our Lord wished to strengthen your faith, for without it, as the evangelist points out, Christ could not have performed many of his miracles. He also wished to listen to your prayer, and so he ordained that you experience poverty, distress, abandonment, weariness and scorn.”
    salvationtrust

    “God wishes to test you like gold in the furnace. The dross is consumed by the fire, but the pure gold remains and its value increases. It is in this manner than God acts with his good servant, who puts his hope in him and remains unshaken in times of distress. God raises him up and, in return for the things he has left out of love for God, he repays him a hundredfold in this life and with eternal life hereafter.”
    sacrifice

  • St. Joan of ArcOpen or Close

    “I place trust in God, my creator, in all things; I love Him with all my heart.”
    trustlove

    “Help yourself and God will help you.”
    conversiondiligence

    “I came from God. There is nothing more for me to do here! Send me back to God, from Whom I came!”
    faith

    “About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter.”
    mystery

    “I would rather die than do a thing which I know to be a sin or against the will of God.”
    martyrsvirtue

    “I do not fear the soldiers, for my road is made open to me; and if the soldiers come, I have God, my Lord, who will know how to clear the route that leads to messire the Dauphin. It was for this that I was born!”
    courage

  • St. John of AvilaOpen or Close

    “Your life consists in drawing nearer to God. To do this you must endeavor to detach yourself from visible things and remember that in a short time they will be taken from you.”
    death

    “Turn yourself round like a piece of clay and say to the Lord: I am clay, and you, Lord, the potter. Make of me what you will.”
    obedience

  • St. John BoscoOpen or Close

    “It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the boys. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.”
    childrenpatience

    “Let us regard those boys over whom we have some authority as our own sons. Let us place ourselves in their service. Let us be ashamed to assume an attitude of superiority. Let us not rule over them except for the purpose of serving them better.”
    children

    “There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.”
    mercyhope

    “In serious matters it is better to beg God humbly than to send forth a flood of words that will only offend the listeners and have no effect on those who are guilty.”
    prayerdialogue

    “Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him often. Do you want him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.”
    eucharistsacramentsevil

    “Holy Purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh.”
    virtue

    “No matter how good food is, if poison is mixed with it, it may cause the death of him who eats it. So it is with conversation. A single bad word, an evil action, an unbecoming joke, is often enough to harm one or more young listeners, and may later cause them to lose God's grace.”
    dialoguekindness

    “Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous snake. If you keep good companions, I can assure you that you will one day rejoice with the blessed in Heaven; whereas if you keep with those who are bad, you will become bad yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul.”
    friendssin

  • St. John ChrysostomOpen or Close

    “Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good.”
    marriagechastity

    “When the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar.”
    eucharistangels

    “Let the mouth fast from disgraceful and abusive words, because, what gain is there when, on the one hand we avoid eating chicken and fish and, on the other, we chew-up and consume our brothers? He who condemns and blasphemes is as if he has eaten brotherly meat, as if he has bitten into the flesh of his fellow man. It is because of this that Paul frightened us, saying: 'If you chew up and consume one another be careful that you do not annihilate yourselves.'”
    dialoguefasting

    “Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works.
    If you see a poor man, take pity on him.
    If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him.

    Do not let only your mouth fast,
    but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands
    and all the members of our bodies.

    Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice.
    Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.
    Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.
    Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip.
    Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.

    For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers?

    May He who came to the world to save sinners, strengthen us to complete the fast with humility! Have mercy on us and save us.”
    virtuefasting

    “Fasting is a medicine. But medicine, as beneficial as it is, becomes useless because of the inexperience of the user. He has to know the appropriate time that the medicine should be taken and the right amount of medicine and the condition of the body which is to take it, the weather conditions and the season of the year and the appropriate diet of the sick and many other things. If any of these things are overlooked, the medicine will do more harm than good. So, if one who is going to heal the body needs so much accuracy, when we care for the soul and are concerned about healing it from bad thoughts, it is necessary to examine and observe everything with every possible detail.”
    fastinghealth

    “Fasting is the change of every part of our life, because the sacrifice of the fast is not the abstinence but the distancing from sins. Therefore, whoever limits the fast to the deprivation of food, he is the one who, in reality, abhors and ridicules the fast. Are you fasting? Show me your fast with your works. Which works? If you see someone who is poor, show him mercy. If you see an enemy, reconcile with him. If you see a friend who is becoming successful, do not be jealous of him! If you see a beautiful woman on the street, pass her by.”
    fastingconversion

    “If you cannot go without eating all day because of an ailment of the body, beloved one, no logical man will be able to criticize you for that. Besides, we have a Lord who is meek and loving and who does not ask for anything beyond our power. Because He neither requires the abstinence from foods, neither that the fast take place for the simple sake of fasting, neither is its aim that we remain with empty stomachs, but that we fast to offer our entire selves to the dedication of spiritual things, having distanced ourselves from secular things. If we regulated our life with a sober mind and directed all of our interest toward spiritual things, and if we ate as much as we needed to satisfy our necessary needs and offered our entire lives to good works, we would not have any need of the help rendered by the fast.”
    fastingsin

    “And though every day a man lives may rightly be a day of repentance, yet is it in these days more becoming, more appropriate, to confess our sins, to fast, and to give alms to the poor; since in these days you may wash clean the sins of the whole year.”
    lent

    “It is clear through unlearned men that the cross was persuasive; in fact, it persuaded the whole world.”
    evangelization

    “You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother,… You dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal…. God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful.”
    eucharistsin

    “Eating and drinking don't make friendships — such friendship even robbers and murderers have. But if we are friends, if we truly care for one another, let's help one another spritually....Let's hinder those things that lead our friends away to hell.”
    friends

    “God assents more when called on by ourselves than by others; and he often delays the giving, not from the wish that we should be utterly perplexed, nor to send us out with empty hands, but in order that he may become the author of greater good things to us.”
    mercy

    “If we have obtained the grace of God, none shall prevail against us, but we shall be stronger than all who oppose us.”
    graceevil

    “When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to his enemies...but to his friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to him, and who have great power in God.”
    temptation

    “It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but He who was crucified for us, Christ Himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their Power and Grace are God's. This is my body, He says. This word transforms the things offered.”
    eucharist

    “Let us return from that Table like lions breathing out fire, terrifying to the devil!”
    eucharistfaith

    “What the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world.”
    evangelization

    “What good is it if the Eucharistic table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying of hunger. Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well.”
    charity

    “You can call happy those who saw Him. But, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will touch Him, you will give to Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy.”
    joy

    “Whether, therefore, we receive what we ask for, or do not receive it, let us still continue steadfast in prayer. For to fail in obtaining the desires of our heart, when God so wills it, is not worse than to receive it; for we know not as He does, what is profitable to us.”
    prayergratitude

    “We should not bear it with bad grace if the answer to our prayer is long delayed. Rather, let us, because of this, show great patience and resignation. For He delays for this reason: that we may offer Him a fitting occasion of honoring us through His divine providence.”
    prayerpatience

    “Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did (God) not give them all the powers of heaven?..What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven.”
    vocation

  • St. John of the CrossOpen or Close

    “Those who trust in themselves are worse than the devil!”
    pride

    “The purest suffering bears and carries in its train the purest understanding.”
    suffering

    “Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.”
    lovesuffering

    “The soul who is in love with God is a gentle, humble and patient soul.”
    love

    “Conquering the tongue is better than fasting on bread and water!”
    dialoguefasting

    “The Lord measures our perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them.”
    diligence

    “Do not be suspicious of your brother, for you will lose purity of heart!”
    tolerance

    “It is a matter of real sorrow when God has given those strength to break stronger fetters, those of vanity and sin, that they neglect their own progress and the attainment of such great blessings because they will not detach themselves from trifles. Not only do they not advance, they fall back. For it is well known that on the spiritual road not to go on overcoming self is to go backwards, and not to increase our gain is to lose. As wood can never be transformed into fire if one necessary degree of heat is missing, so the soul that has even one imperfection can never be perfectly transformed in God.”
    conversion

    “If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.”
    trust

    “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”
    justicelove

    “Beloved, all that is harsh and difficult I want for myself, and all that is gentle and sweet for thee”
    kindnesssacrifice

    “In tribulation immediately draw near to God with confidence, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
    prayer

    “He who interrupts the course of his spiritual exercises and prayer is like a man who allows a bird to escape from his hand; he can hardly catch it again.”
    prayer

    “If you purify your soul of attachment to and desire for things, you will understand them spiritually. If you deny your appetite for them, you will enjoy their truth, understanding what is certain in them.”
    greed

    “The soul that is attached to anything however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken the bird cannot fly.”
    greed

    “Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to his good pleasure and rest in him.”
    hopepeace

    “To saints, their very slumber is a prayer.”
    prayersaints

    “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.”
    friendstolerance

  • St. John of DamascusOpen or Close

    “Being comes first, and afterwards, being good or evil. However, had God kept from being made those who through His goodness were to have existence but who by their own choice were to become evil, then evil would have prevailed over the goodness of God. Thus, all things which God makes He makes good, but each one becomes good or evil by his own choice.”
    freedom

    “God created man to be straightforward, but he has entangled himself with an infinity of questions.”
    sin

    “Now let the heavens be joyful,
    Let earth her song begin:
    Let the round world keep triumph,
    And all that is therein;
    Invisible and visible,
    Their notes let all things blend,
    For Christ the Lord is risen
    Our joy that hath no end.”
    easter

    “The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: 'But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....' Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory.”
    saints

  • St. John Baptist de La SalleOpen or Close

    “Would we wish that our own hidden sins should be divulged? We ought, then, to be silent regarding those of others.”
    sin

    “Guard your eyes that they may not look upon anything contrary to purity; your ears, that they may not listen to evil conversation; your mind, by banishing from it all suggestive thoughts; your heart, by stifling impure desires at their very birth.”
    temptation

    “To abstain from sinful actions is not sufficient for the fulfillment of God's law. The very desire of what is forbidden is evil.”
    sintemptation

    “We should have frequent recourse to prayer, and persevere a long time in it. God wishes to be solicited. He is not weary of hearing us. The treasure of His graces is infinite. We can do nothing more pleasing to him than to beg incessantly that He bestow them upon us.”
    prayer

    “Pride makes us forgetful of our eternal interests. It causes us to neglect totally the care of our soul.”
    pride

  • St. John CantiusOpen or Close

    “Avoid slander because it is difficult to retract. Avoid offending anyone for to ask forgiveness is not delightful.”
    dialogue

    “What kind of work can be more noble than to cultivate the minds of young people, guarding it carefully, so that the knowledge and love of God and His holy precepts go hand-in-hand with learning? To form young Christians and citizens — isn’t this the most beautiful and noble-minded way to make use of life, of all one’s talents and energy?”
    education

  • St. John ClimacusOpen or Close

    “Humility is the only thing that no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt that humility could make angels out of demons.”
    humilitypride

    “Our good Redeemer, by speedily granting what is asked, draws to His love those who are grateful. But He keeps ungrateful souls praying a long time before Him, hungering and thirsting for what they want, since a badly trained dog rushes off as soon as it is given bread and leaves the giver behind.”
    gratitude

    “A man who has embraced poverty offers up prayer that is pure, while a man who loves possessions prays to material images.”
    greed

  • St. John EudesOpen or Close

    “Faith is a beam radiating from the face of God.”
    faith

    “Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desires, and his disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly.”
    obedience

    “Any innovation in matters of faith is extremely pernicious and utterly damnable!”
    tradition

    “The Christian life is a continuation and completion of the life of Christ in us. We should be so many Christs here on earth, continuing His life and His works, laboring and suffering in a holy and divine manner in the spirit of Jesus.”
    virtue

    “The most evident mark of God's anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. Instead of nourishing those committed to their care, they rend and devour them brutally. Instead of leading their people to God, they drag Christian souls into hell in their train. Instead of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, they are its innocuous poison and its murky darkness.”
    vocation

  • St. John of GodOpen or Close

    “Labor without stopping; do all the good works you can while you still have the time.”
    diligence

    “Love the poor tenderly, regarding them as your masters and yourselves as their servants.”
    charity

    “If we look forward to receiving God's mercy, we can never fail to do good so long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor, out of love for God, whatever He has given to us, we shall receive according to His promise a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms He begs us to turn toward Him, to weep for our sins, and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.”
    mercy

    “The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.”
    humilityconversion

  • St. John VianneyOpen or Close

    “I turn to you, dear parents, and implore you to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth.”
    parentsobedience

    “The family is the most ancient institution which God founded in Paradise, when He called the first pair of human beings into existence. The first blessing which God gave was for the wellbeing of the family. With family life, the history of the world commences.”
    family

    “Here is a rule for everyday life: do not do anything which you cannot offer to God.”
    virtue

    “Prayer is nothing else but union with God. In this intimate union, God and the soul are fused together like two bits of wax that no one can ever pull apart. This union of God with a tiny creature is a lovely thing. It is a happiness beyond understanding.”
    prayer

    “Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil. Fertilize the soil ever so richly, it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains.”
    prayer

    “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.”
    liturgyjoy

    “The sign of the cross is the most terrible weapon against the devil. Thus the Church wishes not only that we should have it continually in front of our minds to recall to us just what our souls are worth and what they cost Jesus Christ, but also that we should make it at every juncture ourselves; when we go to bed, when we awaken during the night, when we get up, when we begin any action, and above all, when we are tempted.”
    temptation

    “I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in serving the world and its pleasures.”
    obediencetemptation

    “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.”
    prayermary

    “When we receive Holy Communion, we experience something extraordinary — a joy, a fragrance, a well-being that thrills the whole body and causes it to exalt.”
    eucharistjoy

    “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us.”
    eucharistgrace

    “When we have been to Holy Communion, the balm of love envelops the soul as the flower envelops the bee.”
    eucharist

    “My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.”
    prayerjoy

    “I wish I could lose myself and never find myself except in God!”
    obedience

    “We will either accuse ourselves or excuse ourselves.”
    pride

    “You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions.”
    virtueculture

    “Sin is the executioner of the good God, and the assassin of the soul. It snatches us away from Heaven to precipitate us into Hell. And we love it!”
    sin

    “Only after the Last Judgment will Mary get any rest; from now until then, she is much too busy with her children.”
    mary

    “If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven!”
    sacrifice

    “I throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his Master.”
    adoration

    “When we go before the Blessed Sacrament, let us open our heart; our good God will open His. We shall go to Him; He will come to us; the one to ask, the other to receive. It will be like a breath from one to the other.”
    eucharistsacrament

    “All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man.”
    sacrificeliturgy

    “If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man. The miser would run no more after his treasures, or the ambitious after glory; each would shake off the dust of the earth, leave the world, and fly away towards heaven.”
    eucharistsacraments

  • St. Josaphat of PolotskOpen or Close

    “Please God I will give my life for the holy union, for the supremacy of Peter and of the Holy Father, his successor. Lord, grant me the grace to shed my blood for the unity of the Church and in behalf of obedience to the Holy See.”
    martyrs

    “You people of Vitebsk want to put me to death. You make ambushes for me everywhere, in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways, and in the marketplace. I am here among you as a shepherd and you ought to know that I should be happy to give my life for you. I am ready to die for the holy union, for the supremacy of St. Peter and of his successor the Supreme Pontiff.”
    martyrs

  • St. Josemaría EscriváOpen or Close

    “Be specific. Don't let your resolutions be like fireworks that sparkle for an instant, only to leave as bitter reality a blackened, useless butt that is disgustedly thrown away.

    Make few resolutions. Make specific resolutions. And fulfill them with the help of God.”
    lentconversion

    “Their pure and noble love is a sacred thing. As a priest, I bless it with all my heart. Christian tradition has often seen in Christ's presence at the wedding feast at Cana a proof of the value God places on marriage.”
    marriage

    “You go to pray; to become a bonfire, a living flame, giving light and heat.”
    prayerevangelization

    “Jesus suffers to carry out the will of the Father. And you, who also want to carry out the most holy Will of God, following the steps of the Master, can you complain if you meet suffering on your way?”
    obedience

    “The rosary is said not with the lips alone, muttering Hail Marys one after the other....For a Christian vocal prayer must spring from the heart, so that while the rosary is said, the mind can enter into contemplation of each one of the mysteries.”
    prayermystery

    “The person with fortitude is the one who perseveres in doing what his conscience tells him he ought to do. He does not measure the value of a task exclusively by the benefit he derives from it, but rather by the service he renders to others.”
    courage

    “A man who fails to love the Mass fails to love Christ. We must make an effort to 'live' the Mass with calm and serenity, with devotion and affection. And this is why I have always suspected that those who want the Mass to be over with quickly show, with this insensitive attitude, that they have not yet realized what the sacrifice of the altar means.”
    liturgy

    “Holy Purity is granted by God when it is asked for with humility.”
    humilityprayer

    “Temptation is necessary to make us realize that we are nothing in ourselves.”
    temptation

    “Don't you long to shout to those youths who are bustling around you: Fools! Leave those worldly things that shackle the heart — and very often degrade it — leave all that and come with us in search of Love!”
    greed

    “At the time of your examination beware of the devil that ties your tongue.”
    reconciliation

    “As soon as you willfully allow a dialogue with temptation to begin, the soul is robbed of peace, just as consent to impurity destroys grace.”
    temptationsin

    “Love our Lady. And she will obtain abundant grace to help you conquer in your daily struggle.”
    marygrace

    “When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.”
    eucharistsacraments

    “Christian optimism is not a sugary optimism, nor is it a mere human confidence that everything will turn out all right. It is an optimism that sinks its roots into an awareness of our freedom, and the sure knowledge of the power of grace. It is an optimism that leads us to make demands on ourselves, to struggle to respond at every moment to God's call.”
    hope

    “When you see the storm coming, if you seek safety in that firm refuge which is Mary, there will be no danger of your wavering or going down.”
    maryfaith

    “When we were little, we kept close to our mother in a dark alley or if dogs barked at us. Now, when we feel temptations of the flesh, we should run to the side of our Mother in Heaven, by realizing how she is to us, and by means of aspirations. She will defend us and lead us to the light.”
    marytemptation

    “You always leave the Rosary for later, and you end up not saying it at all because you are sleepy. If there is no other time, say it in the street without letting anybody notice it. It will, moreover, help you to have presence of God.”
    prayer

  • St. Joseph of LeonessaOpen or Close

    “Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel. This is what Saint Paul says to the Corinthians, 'Clearly you are a letter of Christ which I have delivered, a letter written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh in the heart' (2 Corinthians 3:3). Our heart is the parchment; through my ministry the Holy Spirit is the writer because 'my tongue is nimble as the pen of a skillful scribe'(Psalms 45:2).”
    evangelizationscripture

    “O most holy cross, transform us completely into yourself. Let your base become our feet, your beams our arms, your summit our head. And so that we may become the cross, nail our feet that they may be fixed in you; bind our arms that they may not act apart form you; open our side, wound breast and touch our heart with love for you. Grant that our eyes may see nothing but you; our ears hear nothing but you; our nostrils smell nothing but you. O cross, rest in us now, as once Christ rested upon you; may we thirst for you, just as Christ, while hanging upon you, thirsted for us. May we commend ourselves to Him who hung upon you, just as he commended himself to the Eternal Father. O sweet cross, o loving cross, be our defense and our support.”
    dominion

  • St. Josephine BakhitaOpen or Close

    “I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me — I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.”
    lovecourage

    “Mary protected me even before I knew her!”
    mary

    “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who not know him. What a great grace it is to know God!”
    grace

  • St. JustinOpen or Close

    “To obey the commandments of our Savior Jesus Christ is worthy neither of blame nor of condemnation.”
    obedience

    “Henceforth, ye Greeks, come and partake of incomparable wisdom, and be instructed by the Divine Word, and acquaint yourselves with the King immortal; and do not recognize those men as heroes who slaughter whole nations. For our own Ruler, the Divine Word, who even now constantly aids us, does not desire strength of body and beauty of feature, nor yet the high spirit of earth’s nobility, but a pure soul, fortified by holiness, and the watchwords of our King, holy actions, for through the Word power passes into the soul.”
    virtuescripture

    “As by the Word of God, Jesus our Savior was made Flesh and had both Flesh and Blood for our salvation, so also the food which has been blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him is both the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Incarnate.”
    eucharist

    “I have endeavored to learn all doctrines; but I have acquiesced at last in the true doctrines, those namely of the Christians, even though they do not please those who hold false opinions.”
    educationculture

  • St. Kateri TekakwithaOpen or Close

    “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I'll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”
    chastity

    “I have deliberated enough. For a long time my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen Him for husband and He alone will take me for wife””
    chastity

  • St. Katharine DrexelOpen or Close

    “Ours is the Spirit of the Eucharist, the total Gift of Self.”
    eucharistsacraments

    “It is a lesson we all need — to let alone the things that do not concern us. He has other ways for others to follow Him; all do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him, and to follow Him in that path.”
    faith

  • St. Louis de MontfortOpen or Close

    “There are three kinds of love: emotional love, rational love, and the supernatural love of faith. In other words, the love that resides in the lower part of man, in his body; the love in the higher part, his reason; and the love in the highest part of man, in the summit of the soul, that is, the intelligence enlightened by faith.”
    love

    “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.”
    lovemary

    “When the Holy Rosary is said well, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious than any other prayer.”
    prayer

    “The Our Father contains all the duties we owe to God, the acts of all the virtues and the petitions for all our spiritual and corporal needs.”
    prayer

    “Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day become a formal heretic or be led astray by the devil.”
    prayer

    “Pray with great confidence, with confidence based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.”
    trustprayer

  • St. Louise de MarillacOpen or Close

    “Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”
    charity

    “How good it is to trust God! Turn to Him often, as children look to their father and mother in their needs.”
    trust

    “The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin leads us to realize and adore the omnipotence of God because grace totally vanquished nature in her...The knowledge that God gives us of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin should cause us to glorify him eternally for this masterpiece of his omnipotence in a nature that is purely human.”
    gracemary

  • St. Lawrence of BrindisiOpen or Close

    “God is love, and all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the Incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of his goodness and love and glory. So, Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first-born of every creature, and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam had not sinned.”
    dominion

    “Mary was seen clothed with the sun that we may know that she is like the sun which, although one, illumines and warms each man as if it had been created by God for him alone, for there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.”
    mary

    “The word of God is replete with manifold blessings, since it is, so to speak, a treasure of all goods. It is the source of faith, hope, charity, all virtue, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the beatitudes of the Gospel, all good works, all the rewards of life, all the glory of paradise...For the word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. It enables man to know God and to love him. And for the interior man who lives by the Spirit of God through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk. For the soul it is a spiritual treasure of merits yielding an abundance of gold and precious stones. Against the hardness of a heart that persists in wrongdoing, it acts like a hammer. Against the world, the flesh and the devil it serves as a sword that destroys all sin.”
    scripture

  • St. Leonard of Port MauriceOpen or Close

    “If the Lord at the moment of my death reproves me for being too kind to sinners, I will answer, 'My dear Jesus, if it is a fault to be too kind to sinners, it is a fault I learned from you, for you never scolded anyone who came to you seeking mercy.''”
    mercykindness

    “First let us take these two undeniable truths as a basis: 'God wants all men to be saved,' 'All are in need of the grace of God.' Now, if I show you that God wants to save all men, and that for this purpose He gives all of them His grace and all the other necessary means of obtaining that sublime end, you will be obliged to agree that whoever is damned must impute it to his own malice, and that if the greater number of Christians are damned, it is because they want to be. 'Thy damnation comes from thee; thy help is only in Me.'”
    sin

  • St. LucyOpen or Close

    “Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit.”
    gracelove

    “No one's body is polluted so as to endanger the soul if it has not pleased the mind. If you were to lift my hand to your idol and so make me offer against my will, I would still be guiltless in the sight of the true God, who judges according to the will and knows all things.”
    justice

  • St. Madeline Sophie BaratOpen or Close

    “Let us ask our Lord to work in us and through us, and let us do our utmost to draw Him down into our hearts, for He Himself has said: 'Without Me you can do nothing.'”
    dominion

    “Let us attach ourselves to God alone, and turn our eyes and our hopes to Him.”
    obedience

    “Our Lord who saved the world through the Cross will only work for the good of souls through the Cross.”
    salvation

    “God does not ask of us the perfection of tomorrow, nor even of tonight, but only of the present moment.”
    virtue

  • St. Margaret Mary AlacoqueOpen or Close

    “What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He Caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart.”
    pride

    “It is only necessary to say energetically 'I will,' and all will go well.”
    courage

    “The sacred heart of Christ is an inexhaustible fountain and its sole desire is to pour itself out into the hearts of the humble so as to free them and prepare them to lead lives according to his good pleasure.”
    love

    “Would that I could exhaust myself in acts of thanksgiving and gratitude towards this Divine Heart, for the great favor He shows us, in deigning to accept our help to make Him known, loved and honored; He reserves infinite blessings for all those who devote themselves to this work.”
    gratitude

    “Are you making no progress in prayer? Then you need only offer God the prayers which the Savior has poured out for us in the sacrament of the altar. Offer God his fervent love in reparation for your sluggishness. In the course of every activity pray as follows: 'My God, I do this or I endure that in the heart of your Son and according to his holy counsels. I offer it to you in reparation for anything blameworthy or imperfect in my actions.' Continue to do this in every circumstance of life.”
    prayersloth

    “Until we (vowed religious) have acquired genuine prayer, we are like people teaching children to begin to walk.”
    prayerhumility

    “But above all preserve peace of heart. This is more valuable than any treasure. In order to preserve it there is nothing more useful than renouncing your own will and substituting for it the will of the divine heart. In this way his will can carry out for us whatever contributes to His glory, and we will be happy to be His subjects and to trust entirely in Him.”
    peacehumility

  • St. Marie-Victoire CoudercOpen or Close

    “I abandon myself with my whole heart to God's will, and to God's good pleasure — and when I have in all sincerity made this act of self-surrender, I experience great tranquility and perfect peace.”
    obedience

    “To surrender oneself is more than to devote oneself, more than to give oneself, it is even something more than to abandon oneself to God. In a word, to surrender oneself is to die to everything and to self, to be no longer concerned with self except to keep it continually turned toward God.”
    obedience

  • St. Mark the AsceticOpen or Close

    “A man wanted to do evil, but first prayed as usual; and finding himself prevented by God, he was then extremely thankful.”
    prayertemptation

    “Faith consists not only of being baptized in Christ, but also in fulfilling His commandments. Holy Baptism is perfect and gives us perfection, but does not make perfect those who do not follow the commandments.”
    baptismvirtue

    “Even though knowledge is true, it is still not firmly established if unaccompanied by works. For everything is established by being put into practice.”
    educationdiligence

    “When Scripture says, 'He will reward every man according to his works' (Matthew 16:27), do not imagine that works in themselves merit either hell or the Kingdom. On the contrary, Christ rewards each man according to whether his works are done with faith or without faith in Himself; and He is not a dealer bound by contract, but God our Creator and Redeemer.”
    scripturefaith

  • St. Martin de PorresOpen or Close

    “Compassion is preferable to cleanliness: with a little bit of soap I can clean my bed, but think of the flood of tears I would require to clean from my soul the stain that harshness against this unfortunate would leave.”
    empathykindness

  • St. Martin of ToursOpen or Close

    “Put me in the front of the army, without weapons or armor; but I will not draw sword again. I am become the soldier of Christ.”
    courage

    “When I see the marks of the Passion I shall adore my Lord.”
    mystery

  • St. Mary Hermina GrivotOpen or Close

    “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is half my life. The other half consists in loving Jesus and winning souls for Him.”
    adorationevangelization

  • St. Mary MacKillopOpen or Close

    “In the trials, annoyances and anxieties we daily experience, may we ever recognize that loving Fatherly Hand that only seeks to draw us closer to himself by giving us opportunities to suffer something for him.”
    suffering

    “Let us all resign ourselves into His hands, and pray that in all things He may guide us to do His Holy Will ... When thoughts of this or that come I turn to Him and say: "Only what you will, my God. Use me as You will.”
    obedienceprayer

    “Charity to the afflicted must be dear to the heart of Jesus, who knew so well how to sorrow with those he loved. I hope we shall ever bear this in mind.”
    charity

  • St. Mary Joseph RoselloOpen or Close

    “The hands should be at work, the heart with God.”
    diligencelove

    “Go to Jesus. He loves you and is waiting for you to give you many graces. He is on the altar surrounded by angels adoring and praying. Let them make some room for you and join them in doing what they do.”
    faith

    “Good example is the most efficacious apostolate. You must be as lighted lanterns and shine like brilliant chandeliers among men. By your good example and your words, animate others to know and love God.”
    evangelizationvirtue

  • St. Mary Magdalene de PazziOpen or Close

    “A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.”
    obedienceprayer

    “Come, Holy Spirit. Spirit of truth, you are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food for the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up, you are the one in whom all treasures are contained.”
    holy trinity

  • St. Maximilian KolbeOpen or Close

    “For Jesus Christ I am prepared to suffer still more.”
    suffering

    “The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him to the greatest extent of our powers.”
    empathygratitude

    “No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”
    truth

    “Courage, my sons, Don't you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes.”
    couragemartyrs

  • St. Melito of SardisOpen or Close

    “The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: 'Who will contend with me? Let him confront me.' I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.”
    salvation

    “Born as a son,
    led forth as a lamb,
    sacrificed as a sheep,
    buried as a man,
    He rose from the dead as a God,
    for He was by nature God and Man.
    He is all things: He judges, and so He is Law;
    He teaches, and so He is Word;
    He saves, and so He is Grace;
    He begets, and so He is Father,
    He is begotten, and so He is Son;
    He suffers, and so He is Sacrifice;
    He is buried, and so He is Man;
    He rises again, and so He is God.
    This is Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs Glory for all ages.”
    dominion

  • St. MonicaOpen or Close

    “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be His servant. So what am I doing here?”
    parentsconversion

  • St. Moses of EthiopiaOpen or Close

    “God will not hear our prayers unless we acknowledge ourselves to be sinners. We do this when we ponder on our own sins alone, and not on those of our neighbor.”
    prayersin

    “It is impossible for the mind not to be approached by thoughts, but it is in the power of every earnest man either to admit them or to reject them. As then their rising up does not entirely depend on ourselves, so the rejection or admission of them lies in our own power.”
    temptation

    “The man who flees and lives in solitude is like a bunch of grapes ripened by the sun, but he who remains amongst men is like an unripe grape.”
    culture

  • St. Nicholas of TolentinoOpen or Close

    “The heavens are not pure in the sight of Him Whom I serve; how then shall I, a sinful man, stand before Him?”
    humility

    “Give thanks to God, not to me. I am only a vessel of clay, a poor sinner.”
    gratitude

  • St. PatrickOpen or Close

    “Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort me and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”
    grace

    “That which I have set out in Latin is not my words but the words of God and of apostles and prophets, who of course have never lied. He who believes shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be damned. God has spoken.”
    faithscripture

    “The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelieving heart, so that I should recall my sins.”
    reconciliation

    “Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall.”
    humility

  • St. Paul of the CrossOpen or Close

    “Meditate often on the sorrows of the holy Mother, sorrows inseparable from those of her beloved Son. If you seek the Cross, there you will find the Mother; and where the Mother is, there also is the Son.”
    prayermary

    “I wish that all men could understand the great favor that God grants them when, in His goodness, He sends them suffering...for then the soul, like gold which is purified in the fiery crucible, is cleansed, made beautiful, detached from earthly things, and united to the Sovereign Good, without even being conscious of it.”
    suffering

    “What has a person to fear who lives in the arms and bosom of God?”
    trustcourage

    “Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ.”
    Christmas

    “Therefore, be constant in practicing every virtue, and especially in imitating the patience of our dear Jesus, for this is the summit of pure love. Live in such a way that all may know that you bear outwardly as well as inwardly the image of Christ crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy. For if a man is united inwardly with the Son of the living God, he also bears his likeness outwardly by his continual practice of heroic goodness, and especially through a patience reinforced by courage, which does not complain either secretly or in public. Conceal yourselves in Jesus crucified, and hope for nothing except that all men be thoroughly converted to his will.”
    patienceevangelization

    “It is very good and holy to consider the passion of our Lord, and to meditate on it, for by this sacred path we reach union with God. In this most holy school we learn true wisdom, for it was there that all the saints learned it.”
    education

    “When you feel the assaults of passion and anger, then is the time to be silent as Jesus was silent in the midst of His ignominies and sufferings.”
    tolerance

  • St. Paul MikiOpen or Close

    “Like my Master I shall die upon the cross. Like Him, a lance will pierce my heart so that my blood and my love can flow out upon the land and sanctify it to His name.”
    martyrs

    “The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”
    martyrs

  • St. Peter of AlcantaraOpen or Close

    “The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.”
    conversionevangelization

    “No tongue can express the greatness of the love which Jesus Christ bears to our souls. He did not wish that between Him and His servants there should be any other pledge than Himself, to keep alive the remembrance of Him.”
    dialoguesalvation

  • St. Peter ChrysologusOpen or Close

    “Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ.”
    joyevil

    “The poor stretch out the hand, but God receives what is offered.”
    charity

    “He (Christ) really made His body a living sacrifice, because, though slain, He continues to live. In such a victim death receives its ransom, but the victim remains alive. Death itself suffers the punishment. This is why death for the martyrs is actually a birth, and their end a beginning. Their execution is the door to life, and those who were thought to have been blotted out from the earth shine brilliantly in heaven.”
    salvation

    “Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the One they have followed as He shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the One they have long awaited as He lay hidden among the stars.

    Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.

    So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.”
    Christmasdominion

    “Now that we are reborn, as I have said, in the likeness of our Lord, and have indeed been adopted by God as his children, let us put on the complete image of our Creator so as to be wholly like him, not in the glory that he alone possesses, but in innocence, simplicity, gentleness, patience, humility, mercy, harmony, those qualities in which he chose to become, and to be, one with us.”
    dominion

  • St. Peter ClaverOpen or Close

    “We must speak to them (slaves) with our hands by giving, before we try to speak to them with our lips.”
    charitydialogue

    “Man's salvation and perfection consists of doing the will of God which he must have in view in all things, and at every moment of his life.”
    salvation

    “To do the will of God man must despise his own: the more he dies to himself, the more he will live to God.”
    obedience

    “To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be detached from all temporal love. We must love nothing but Him, or if we love anything else, we must love it only for His sake.”
    obedience

  • St. Peter DamianOpen or Close

    “Let us detach ourselves in spirit from all that we see and cling to that which we believe. This is the cross which we must imprint on all our daily actions and behavior.”
    obedience

    “It is not sinners, but the wicked who should despair; it is not the magnitude of one’s crime, but contempt of God that dashes one’s hopes.”
    sinevil

  • St. Peter Julian EymardOpen or Close

    “Happy is the soul that knows how to find Jesus in the Eucharist, and in the Eucharist all things!”
    joyeucharist

    “Every time we come into the presence of the Eucharist we may say: This precious Testament cost Jesus Christ His life. For the Eucharist is a testament, a legacy which becomes valid only at the death of the testator. Our Lord thereby shows us His boundless love, for He Himself said there is no greater proof of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
    sacrificeeucharist

    “If the love of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament does not win our hearts, Jesus is vanquished! Our ingratitude is greater than His Goodness our malice is more powerful than His Charity.”
    gratitudeeucharist

    “He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant.”
    reconciliationpatience

    “Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day. All your duties will be performed the better for it, and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross. The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you can do nothing that can give greater glory to God or be more profitable for your soul than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly. It is the favorite devotion of the saints.”
    liturgydevotion

  • St. Philip NeriOpen or Close

    “Bear the cross and do not make the cross bear you.”
    sacrifice

    “It is an old custom with the servants of God always to have some little prayers ready and to be darting them up to heaven frequently during the day, lifting their minds to God out of the filth of this world. He who adopts this plan will get great fruit with little pains.”
    prayer

    “A man without prayer is an animal without the use of reason.”
    prayer

  • St. Philo of AlexandriaOpen or Close

    “Households, cities, countries, and nations have enjoyed great happiness when a single individual has taken heed of the Good and Beautiful. Such people not only liberate themselves; they fill those they meet with a free mind.”
    freedomculture

    “Be kind, for everyone you meet is engaged in a battle.”
    kindness

    “Gray hairs are signs of wisdom if you hold your tongue, speak and they are but hairs, as in the young.”
    dialogueeducation

    “Those who give hoping to be rewarded with honor are not giving, they are bargaining.”
    almsgiving

  • St. Pio of PietrelcinoOpen or Close

    “Satan fears and trembles before humble souls.”
    evilhumility

    “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.”
    liturgy

    “Keep close to the Catholic Church at all times, for the Church alone can give you true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, in the Blessed Sacrament.”
    obediencepeace

    “Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.”
    prayerlife

    “Why is there evil in this world? Listen carefully. There is a mother who is embroidering. Her son sitting on a low stool sees her work, but upside down. He sees the knots of the embroidery; the tangled threads, and says: 'Mother, what are you doing? Your work is not clear?' Then the mother lowers the embroidery frame and shows the right side of her work. Each color is in its place and the variety of threads form a harmonious design. So, we are seeing the reverse side of the embroidery. We are sitting on a low stool.”
    evilmystery

    “The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of the trial and in the exaltation after the combat.”
    suffering

    “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self: there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.”
    sacrifice

    “Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God's heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips, but with your heart. In fact on certain occasions you should only speak to Him with your heart.”
    prayer

    “Do good everywhere, so that everyone can say:'this is a son of Christ.'”
    virtue

    “Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes.”
    lovepride

    “Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.”
    grace

    “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.”
    christmas

    “Yes, I love the cross, the cross alone, because I always see it behind Jesus' shoulders.”
    sacrifice

    “Pray, hope, and don't worry.”
    prayerhope

    “Help yourself during this troubled period by reading holy books. This reading provides excellent food for the soul and conduces to great progress along the path of perfection. By no means is it inferior to what we obtain through prayer and holy meditation. In prayer and meditation it is ourselves who speak to the Lord, while in holy reading it is God who speaks to us. Before beginning to read, raise your mind to the Lord and implore Him to guide your mind Himself, to speak to your heart and move your will.”
    scripturetemptation

  • St. Polycarp of SmyrnaOpen or Close

    “I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him by glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.”
    holy trinityprayer

    “Stand fast, therefore, in this conduct and follow the example of the Lord, 'firm and unchangeable in faith, lovers of the brotherhood, loving each other, united in truth,' helping each other with the mildness of the Lord, despising no man.”
    obedience

  • St. Raphael KalinowskiOpen or Close

    “Our Redeemer, ever present in the most Blessed Sacrament, extends His hand to everyone. He opens His heart and says, 'Come to Me, all of You.'”
    eucharistdominion

    “Every step of our life should bring us closer to God, and help to provide at least a little happiness to our neighbor.”
    obediencejoy

    “The real happiness in this valley of tears, is doing God's will in everything. Only the person who seeks happiness in this way — avoiding all worry about the difficulties, sorrows and sufferings with which one may be afflicted — will find that happiness.”
    obediencejoy

    “I keep my eyes fixed on Eternity, and from this source I draw constancy in the midst of the confusion of daily life; freedom in my social relations, and joy in spirit.”
    lifefaith

    “Devotion to the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was, and still is, for me a source of patience, perseverance, refuge and consolation; literally, the very spring of my life. Without this mystery of our Savior's love, which He has left for us in the Church, I would have perished long since.”
    adoration

    “I like to find at least a few moments each day spent in doing good for others out of love for God. These few moments, almost unoticeably used, bring something like rays of peace and comfort behind them; they unite us with people and God by a pure feeling of tender sweetness.”
    kindness

    “What a pity it is that, through we are on earth simply to prepare for Heaven, we hardly ever speak of it. How we waste our life and our energies!”
    lifeculture

  • St. Raymond of PenyafortOpen or Close

    “May the God of love and peace set your hearts at rest and speed you on your journey; may he meanwhile shelter you from disturbance by others in the hidden recesses of his love, until he brings you at last into that place of complete plenitude where you will repose for ever in the vision of peace, in the security of trust, and in the restful enjoyment of his riches.”
    peace

    “Look then on Jesus, the author and preserver of faith: in complete sinlessness He suffered, and at the hands of those who were His own, and was numbered among the wicked. As you drink the cup of the Lord Jesus (how glorious it is!), give thanks to the Lord, the giver of all blessings.”
    eucharistsalvation

  • St. Robert BellarmineOpen or Close

    “Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved.”
    charity

    “Let prayer delight thee more than disputations, and the charity which buildeth up more than the knowledge which puffeth up.”
    charityprayer

  • St. Romanos the MelodistOpen or Close

    “The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
    And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
    The angels and shepherds praise Him,
    And the magi advance with the star,
    For you are born for us, Little Child, God eternal!”
    Christmas

    “The wicked one, on the watch, carried me off as booty as I lazily slept. He led my mind into error; he plundered my spirit and snatched away The wealth of Thy grace, this arch robber. So raise me up, as I am fallen, and summon me, Saviour, Thou who dost will that all men be saved.”
    evilsalvation

  • St. Rose of LimaOpen or Close

    “Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart.”
    suffering

    “Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggles increase.”
    suffering

    “Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.”
    faith

  • St. Rose Philippine DuchesneOpen or Close

    “Humility is the virtue that requires the greatest amount of effort.”
    humility

    “I live now in solitude and am able to use my time reflecting on the past and preparing for death. I cannot put away the thought of the Indians and in my ambition I fly to the Rockies.”
    evangelization

    “We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.”
    love

  • St. ScholasticaOpen or Close

    “All religious are under an obligation, in accordance with the particular vocation of each, to work zealously and diligently for the building up and growth of the whole mystical body of Christ and for the good of the particular churches. It is their duty to foster these objectives primarily by means of prayer, works of penance, and by the example of their own lives.”
    vocationdiligence

    “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and He did listen.”
    prayer

  • St. Stephen of HungaryOpen or Close

    “Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate and do not punish or condemn anyone immoderately. Be gentle so that you may never oppose justice. Be honorable so that you may never voluntarily bring disgrace upon anyone. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness of lust like the pangs of death.”
    virtue

    “My beloved son, delight of my heart, hope of your posterity, I pray, I command, that at every time and in everything, strengthened by your devotion to me, you may show favor not only to relations and kin, or to the most eminent, be they leaders or rich men or neighbors or fellow-countrymen, but also to foreigners and to all who come to you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest state of happiness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' Be patient with everyone, not only with the powerful, but also with the weak.”
    kindness

  • St. Teresa of AvilaOpen or Close

    “If I should say anything that is not in conformity with what is held by the Holy Roman Catholic Church, it will be through ignorance and not through malice.”
    educationobedience

    “All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding His life we find that He is the best example.”
    dominion

    “If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight.”
    grace

    “Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.”
    grace

    “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours, yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth, yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.”
    kindness

    “The devil will try to upset you by accusing you of being unworthy of the blessings that you have received. Simply remain cheerful and do your best to ignore the devil's nagging. If need be even laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Satan, the epitome of sin itself, accuses you of unworthiness! When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!”
    temptation

    “It constantly happens that the Lord permits a soul to fall so that it may grow humbler. When it is honest, and realizes what it has done, and returns, it makes ever-increasing progress in our Lord's service.”
    humility

    “We cannot be sure whether we are loving God, although we may have good reason that we are. But we can know quite well whether we are loving our neighbor.”
    friends

    “Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.”
    kindnessvirtue

    “Anyone who truly loves God travels securely.”
    faith

    “For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”
    prayerfriends

    “I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.”
    fearevil

    “I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible.”
    virtue

    “To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.”
    virtue

    “We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.”
    faithsuffering

    “Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”
    love

    “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.”
    prayergratitude

    “Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All thing pass; God never changes. Patience attains all that it strives for. He who has God finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices.”
    trustpatience

    “We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can, namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”
    humility

    “Untilled soil, however fertile it may be, will bear thistles and thorns; and so it is with man's mind.”
    education

    “It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found, not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater.”
    sin

    “God aids the valiant...both to you and to me He will give the help needed.”
    virtue

    “Each of us has a soul, but we forget to value it. We don’t remember that we are creatures made in the image of God. We don’t understand the great secrets hidden inside of us.”
    grace

    “Pain is never permanent.”
    suffering

    “O my God, what must a soul be like when it is in this state! It longs to be all one tongue with which to praise the Lord. It utters a thousand pious follies, in a continuous endeavor to please Him who thus possesses it.”
    prayer

    “Do not dismayed daughters, at the number of things which you have to consider before setting out on this divine journey, which is the royal road to heaven. By taking this road we gain such precious treasures that it is no wonder if the cost seems to us a high one. The time will come when we shall realize that all we have paid has been nothing at all by comparison with the greatness of our prizes.”
    vocation

    “The pain (stigmata) was so sharp that it made me utter several moans; and so excessive was the sweetness caused me by this intense pain that one can never wish to lose it.”
    suffering

    “One who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.”
    courage

    “To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that.”
    courage

    “Take God for your spouse and friend and walk with Him continually, and you will not sin, will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you.”
    vocation

    “The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too.”
    faith

    “What a great favor God does to those He places in the company of good people!”
    friends

    “It is true that we cannot be free from sin, but at least let our sins not be always the same.”
    sin

    “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life... If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”
    deathcourage

    “If we plant a flower or a shrub and water it daily it will grow so tall that in time we shall need a spade and a hoe to uproot it. It is just so, I think, when we commit a fault, however small, each day, and do not cure ourselves of it.”
    sinreconciliation

  • St. Theophilus of AntiochOpen or Close

    “In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man.”
    holy trinity

    “If God had drawn the world from preexistent matter, what would be so extraordinary in that? A human artisan makes from a given material whatever he wants, while God shows His power by starting from nothing to make all He wants.”
    mysteryscience

    “And about your laughing at me and calling me Christian, you know not what you are saying. First, because that which is anointed is sweet and serviceable, and far from contemptible. For what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy, unless it be first anointed? Or what castle or house is beautiful and serviceable when it has not been anointed? And what man, when he enters into this life or into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? And what work has either ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and burnished? Then the air and all that is under heaven is in a certain sort anointed by light and spirit; and are you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God.”
    confirmationsacraments

  • St. Therese of LisieuxOpen or Close

    “Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.”
    lovediligence

    “Love consumes us only in the measure of our self-surrender.”
    love

    “Kneeling before the tabernacle, I can think of only one thing to say to our Lord: 'My God, you know that I love You.' And I feel that my prayer does not weary Jesus; knowing my weakness, He is satisfied with my good will.”
    worship

    “The greatest honor God can do a soul is not to give it much, but to ask much of it.”
    sacrifice

    “Look at His adorable face.
    Look at His glazed and sunken eyes.
    Look at His wounds.
    Look Jesus in the Face.
    There, you will see how He loves us.”
    sacrifice

    “How can we complain when He Himself was considered 'as one struck by God and afflicted'(Isa. 53:4)”
    sacrifice

    “For one pain endured with joy, we shall love the good God more forever.”
    joysuffering

    “Each small task of everyday life is part of the harmony of the universe.”
    humilitydiligence

    “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.”
    lovediligence

    “Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors.”
    virtuediligence

    “Our Lord needs from us neither great deeds nor profound thoughts. Neither intelligence nor talents. He cherishes simplicity.”
    virtue

    “For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
    loveprayer

    “You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.”
    saints

    “Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity in order to instruct souls; He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches without noise of words.”
    education

    “True charity consists in putting up with all one's neighbor's faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues.”
    charitykindness

    “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.”
    prayergrace

    “I am very glad I shall soon go to heaven, but I think of these words of God. 'I carry my reward with me to render to each according to his works,' I tell myself that in my case He will be quite embarrassed. I have no works! He will then be unable to render to me 'according to my works.' Well, He will then render to me according to His own works!”
    deathhumility

    “I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love...my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is Love!”
    lovevocation

    “Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our father's love — difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs — everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness — Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events — to the heart that loves, all is well.”
    gracesuffering

  • St. Thomas AquinasOpen or Close

    “To know whom to avoid is a great means of saving our souls.”
    evil

    “Concerning God, we cannot grasp what He is, but only what He is not, and how other beings stand in relation to Him.”
    humilityeducation

    “Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind that sets bounds to the passions.”
    temptation

    “He who does not embrace the teaching of the Church does not have the habit of faith.”
    apostasy

    “Hence we must say that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural knowledge.”
    truthgrace

    “The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross.”
    liturgy

    “God's universal providence works through secondary causes....The world of pure spirits stretches between the Divine Nature and the world of human beings; because Divine Wisdom has ordained that the higher should look after the lower, Angels execute the Divine plan for human salvation: they are our Guardians, who free us when hindered and help to bring us home.”
    dominionangels

    “Lord, may any joy without you be burdensome for me.”
    sin

    “Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you.”
    obedience

    “Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in God's presence, always ready to give Him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from Him by consenting to sin.”
    obedience

    “Almsgiving proceeds from a merciful heart and is more useful for the one who practices it than for the one who receives it, for the man who makes a practice of almsgiving draws out a spiritual profit from his acts, whilst those who receive his alms receive only a temporal benefit.”
    almsgiving

    “Wonder is the desire for knowledge.”
    education

    “The things that we love tell us what we are.”
    love

    “To love God is something greater than to know Him.”
    loveeducation

    “Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.”
    virtueevil

    “Grace is nothing else but a certain beginning of glory within us.”
    grace

    “To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.”
    conversionevangelization

    “All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.”
    humilitydiligence

    “We can’t have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led.”
    faitheducation

    “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
    faithevangelization

    “The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord’s Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion.”
    eucharistsacramentssacrifice

  • St. Thomas BecketOpen or Close

    “If all the swords in England were pointed against my head, your threats would not move me. I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace.”
    martyrs

    “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.”
    friends

    “Remember then how our fathers worked out their salvation; remember the sufferings through which the Church has grown, and the storms the ship of Peter has weathered because it has Christ on board. Remember how the crown was attained by those whose sufferings gave new radiance to their faith. The whole company of saints bears witness to the unfailing truth that without real effort no one wins the crown.”
    suffering

    “For our sake Christ offered himself to the Father upon the altar for the cross. He now looks down from heaven on our actions and secret thoughts, and one day he will give each of us the reward his deeds deserve.

    It must therefore be our endeavor to destroy the right of sin and death, and by nurturing faith and uprightness of life, to build up the Church of Christ into a holy temple of the Lord.”
    conversion

  • St. Thomas MoreOpen or Close

    “Comfort in tribulation can be secured only on the sure ground of faith holding as true the words of Scripture and the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
    obediencetemptation

    “Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be.”
    diligencetemptation

    “Whoever bids other folks to do right, but gives an evil example by acting the opposite way, is like a foolish weaver who weaves quickly with one hand and unravels the cloth just as quickly with the other.”
    deceit

    “If we try to escape sadness by seeking our consolation in sleep, we will fail to find what we are seeking, for we will lose in sleep the consolation we might have received from God if we had stayed awake and prayed.”
    prayersloth

    “Nothing can come but that that God wills. And I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, seem it never so bad in sight, it shall indeed be the best.”
    virtue

    “Every tribulation which ever comes our way either is sent to be medicinal, if we will take it as such, or may become medicinal, if we will make it such, or is better than medicinal, unless we forsake it.”
    suffering

    “Tribulation is a gift from God — one that he especially gives His special friends.”
    suffering

    “If I speak to thee in friendship's name, thou think'st I speak too coldly, if I mention love's devoted flame, thou say'st I speak too boldly.”
    love

  • St. Thomas of VillanovaOpen or Close

    “Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, in spite of his present weakness.”
    tolerance

    “If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor. If you wish God to anticipate your wants, provide those of the needy without waiting for them to ask you. Especially anticipate the needs of those who are ashamed to beg. To make them ask for alms is to make them buy it.”
    charity

  • St. Ursula LedochowskaOpen or Close

    “You must never ask Jesus to wait.”
    sloth

    “(It) is not enough to pray, Thy kingdom come, but to work, so that the Kingdom of God will exist among us today.”
    diligence

  • St. Vincent of LerinsOpen or Close

    “If one yields ground on any single point of Catholic doctrine, one will later have to yield later in another, and again in another, and so on until such surrenders come to be something normal and acceptable. And when one gets used to rejecting dogma bit by bit, the final result will be the repudiation of it altogether.”
    apostasy

    “What shall a Catholic do if some portion of the Church detaches itself from communion of the universal Faith? What other choice can he make if some new contagion attempts to poison, no longer a small part of the Church, but the whole Church at once, then his great concern will be to attach himself to antiquity (Tradition) which can no longer be led astray by any lying novelty.”
    apostasy

    “All novelty in faith is a sure mark of heresy.”
    tradition

    Avoid the profane novelty of words," St. Paul says (I Timothy 6:20) ... For if novelty is to be avoided, antiquity is to be held tight to; and if novelty is profane, antiquity is sacred.”
    tradition

    “I cannot sufficiently be astonished that such is the insanity of some men, such the impiety of their blinded understanding, such, finally, their lust after error, that they will not be content with the rule of faith delivered once and for all from antiquity, but must daily seek after something new, and even newer still, and are always longing to add something to religion, or to change it, or to subtract from it!”
    tradition

  • St. Vincent PallottiOpen or Close

    “Since God is perfect in loving man, man must be perfect in loving his neighbor.”
    love

    “Not the goods of the world, but God.
    Not riches, but God.
    Not honors, but God.
    Not distinction, but God.
    Not dignities, but God.
    Not advancement, but God.
    God always and in everything.”
    humility

    “Remember that the Christian life is one of action; not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds, and let them be done well.”
    diligencedialogue

  • St. Vincent de PaulOpen or Close

    “Read good and useful books, and abstain from reading those that only gratify curiosity.”
    education

    “Read some chapter of a devout book....It is very easy and most necessary, for just as you speak to God when at prayer, God speaks to you when you read.”
    scripture

    “Always turn your eyes from the study of your own sin to the contemplation of God's mercy. Devote much more thought to the grandeur of his love for you than to your unworthiness toward him, to his strength than to your weakness. When you have done this, surrender yourself into God's arms in the hope that he will make you what he requires you to be and that he will bless all you do.”
    mercy

    “Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His Mercy from us?”
    mercy

    “Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity.”
    charityvirtue

    “It was His Will that after His death the Church should give us His image in the crucifix, that he might appear to us in a condition of utmost ignominy. And why? He did it because He knew the worth of humility and the danger of the sin which opposes it.”
    humilitypride

    “The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.”
    humilityevil

    “However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.”
    humilitydiligence

    “You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy — the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud.”
    pride

    “Humility and charity are the two master-chords: one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them. Therefore it is necessary, above all, to maintain ourselves in these two virtues; for observe well that the preservation of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and the roof.”
    humilitycharity



  • abortionOpen or Close

    “Get the children for first communion and say to them, somebody votes for the killing of unborn babies, and says, I voted for that, I will vote for that every time and these babies are killed, not one or two, but in millions, and that person says I am a practicing Catholic, should that person receive communion next Sunday? The children for first communion will answer that at the drop of a hat. You don’t need a cardinal to answer that.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “We have gone from a world in which women and girls were told they cannot succeed out of the home to a world in which they are told they can't succeed outside of the home without abortion. But women do not need abortion to succeed.”
    Jeanneane Maxon

    “The abortion industry has allowed women to be harmed physically, mentally and socially by telling them to deny their true potential and insisting they choose either work or family, because they'll never succeed at both.”
    Jeanneane Maxon

    “Abortion is a denial of one of those powers which make women women.”
    Janet Smith

    “You may be surprised to learn that, in our law, although the fetus is currently without the right to life, it does have some rights. For instance, under civil law, the unborn child has the right to inherit part of his father’s estate should his father die before he is born, and he has the right to sue his mother, or a doctor, for injuiries sustained while in the womb.”
    Janet Smith

    “A woman who sets her rights, the supposed right to privacy or right over her own body, above the life of another human being is saying that a woman’s rights are superior to human rights. She has put herself above the human race, she has made herself the executor over life and death. Is that a woman’s right?”
    Janet Smith

    “No Catholic ministry — and yes, Mr. President, for Catholics our schools and hospitals are ministries — can remain faithful to the Lordship of the Risen Christ and to his glorious Gospel of Life if they are forced to pay for abortions.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “Given the breakdown in family life, the wholesale attack on innocent and defenseless human lives, and the violation of the integrity of the union of marriage in our society, the call to the martyrdom of witness is ever more urgent.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “I understand very well that a woman who has been raped is in distress and must be helped. But she needs that (help), while keeping in mind the being inside her. She's not responsible for what's happened to her — the rapist is. But there's already been one victim. Do we need to make a second one?... Taking someone else's life is always a moral crime.”
    Cardinal Marc Ouellet

    “If we are going to stop the demonic plague of abortion, we must receive the two sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession, and often, because the principle source of grace on earth is the Holy Eucharist. But we must receive the Holy Communion in the state of grace, otherwise we commit another mortal sin of sacrilege.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “God has allowed the plague of abortion, I hope you will believe me, because of our sins, and don't change the phenomenal adjective, because of 'OUR' sins, yours and mine.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The fifth commandment is being so widely ignored and openly denied. Innocent children are being murdered, and the laws of once civilized nations like our own legalize murder. Why? The main single reason is because unchaste people are cruel people. Only chaste people are loving people.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “What abortion is telling us is to wake up to the sacredness of human life. It must be very, very sacred if God became man to assume human life. And God, for all eternity, has a human life... God assumed human life at the incarnation.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “What is a more fundamental error underlying what is called euthanasia? A more fundamental error is the blasphemous attitude which these people think that they can control life and death by taking the decisions into their own hands. Only God has a right to determine who will be conceived and born.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Consequently, if every sin has consequences, murder surely does. The first consequence therefore is the loss of grace. And our faith teaches us every deliberate homicide is a mortal sin and deprives the person who takes the human life of another person, deprives the murderer of his or her supernatural life. Abortion therefore is always, comma, always, comma, always a mortal sin.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Let me tell you why I believe abortion is the crucial issue of our age. First, because abortion, too, is about living within the truth. The right to life is the foundation of every other human right. If that right is not inviolate, then no right can be guaranteed. Or to put it more bluntly: Homicide is homicide, no matter how small the victim.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “It doesn't matter that some abortions have always occurred, or that some will always occur. If we really believe that abortion kills a developing, unborn human life, then we can never be satisfied with mere 'reductions' in the body count.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

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

    “We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “When some lives, including those of the unborn, are subjected to the personal choices of others, no other value or right will be long guaranteed.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Those who insufficiently value human life and, in consequence, support among other things the liberalization of abortion, perhaps do not realize that in this way they are proposing the pursuit of a false peace. The flight from responsibility, which degrades human persons, and even more so the killing of a defenseless and innocent being, will never be able to produce happiness or peace.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not... with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The right to life is the first among human rights. To abort a child is to kill someone who cannot defend himself.”
    Pope Francis

    “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you. No child should be deprived of the right to be born, the right to be fed, the right to go to school.”
    Pope Francis

    “If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child — I insist on it. Save him.”
    St. Gianna Beretta Molla

  • adorationOpen or Close

    “I propose increased opportunities for Eucharistic adoration. Far from detracting from the celebration of the Eucharist and far from privatizing the Eucharist, Eucharistic adoration increases our capacity to believe in the Eucharistic mystery, to participate in its celebration with devotion and joy, and to go forth in charity to serve the needs of others.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “Eucharistic adoration prolongs the joy and gratitude we should feel at every Mass and gives us the opportunity to deepen our friendship with the Savior who loves us so profoundly.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “If more Catholics spent more time in Eucharistic adoration, I think two things would happen: many who have abandoned the regular practice of the faith might well rediscover it. And those who have acquired the bad habit of arriving late for Mass and leaving early might want to linger instead — to spend time with the Lord who thirsts for our Love.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Receiving the Eucharist means adoring Him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with Him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful. It is a source of comfort and light, particularly to those who are suffering.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “I throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his Master.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is half my life. The other half consists in loving Jesus and winning souls for Him.”
    St. Mary Hermina Grivot

    “Devotion to the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was, and still is, for me a source of patience, perseverance, refuge and consolation; literally, the very spring of my life. Without this mystery of our Savior's love, which He has left for us in the Church, I would have perished long since.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

  • AdventOpen or Close

    “God is constantly revealing himself to us. He whispers to us, he doesn't shout — Advent invites us to listen and discover His grace and mercy.”
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan

    “Advent is such a beautiful season. It is a time for renewal; it is especially a time for forgiveness, because God brings his forgiveness to us in the shape of his Son.”
    Catherine de Hueck Doherty

    “We are in Advent. We remember that a woman held in her arms a child, and that child was God. If we remember that, then we are givers of peace, we are lovers of the Beloved. We own him through love. And he owns us! the most extraordinary thing in the world is that God loves you and me!”
    Catherine de Hueck Doherty

    “Advent is the season of the secret, the secret of the growth of Christ, of divine love growing in silence…For nine months, Christ grew in his mother's body. By his own will, she formed him from herself, from the simplicity of her daily life.”
    Caryll Houselander

    “By his own will Christ was dependent on Mary during Advent: he was absolutely helpless; he could go nowhere but where she chose to take him; he could not speak; her breathing was his breath; his heart beat in the beating of her heart. In the seasons of our Advent — waking, working, eating, sleeping, being — each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world.”
    caryll houselander

    “The season of Advent is like springtime in nature, when everything is renewed and so is fresh and healthy. Advent is also meant to do this to us — to refresh us and make us healthy, to be able to receive Christ in whatever form he may come to us.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “The liturgy of Advent...helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

  • almsgivingOpen or Close

    “Almsgiving, according to the Gospel, is not mere philanthropy: rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbor, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave His entire self for us.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Alms are an inheritance and a justice which is due to the poor and which Jesus has levied upon us.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Nothing makes us so prosperous in this world as to give alms.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Those who give hoping to be rewarded with honor are not giving, they are bargaining.”
    St. Philo of Alexandria

    “Almsgiving proceeds from a merciful heart and is more useful for the one who practices it than for the one who receives it, for the man who makes a practice of almsgiving draws out a spiritual profit from his acts, whilst those who receive his alms receive only a temporal benefit.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • angelsOpen or Close

    “Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “You should be aware that the word 'angel' denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.”
    St. Augustine

    “When the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “God's universal providence works through secondary causes....The world of pure spirits stretches between the Divine Nature and the world of human beings; because Divine Wisdom has ordained that the higher should look after the lower, Angels execute the Divine plan for human salvation: they are our Guardians, who free us when hindered and help to bring us home.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • apostasyOpen or Close

    “I deem it my duty to call your attention to the shortness of this life, and the certainty of death, and the dreadful judgment we must all undergo, and on the decision of which a happy or a miserable eternity depends. The impious has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' He would willingly believe there is no God; the passions, the corruptions of his heart would fain persuade him there is none. The stings of conscience betray the emptiness of the delusion; the heavens proclaim the existence of God, and unperverted reason teaches that He must love virtue and hate vice, and reward the one and punish the other.”
    Charles Carroll

    “The world divorced from the God who created and redeemed it inevitably comes to a bad end. It’s on the wrong side of the only history that finally matters.”
    Cardinal Francis George

    “If a soul is not clothed with the teachings of the Church he cannot merit to have Jesus seated in him.”
    St. Jerome

    “He who does not embrace the teaching of the Church does not have the habit of faith.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “If one yields ground on any single point of Catholic doctrine, one will later have to yield later in another, and again in another, and so on until such surrenders come to be something normal and acceptable. And when one gets used to rejecting dogma bit by bit, the final result will be the repudiation of it altogether.”
    St. Vincent of Lerins

    “What shall a Catholic do if some portion of the Church detaches itself from communion of the universal Faith? What other choice can he make if some new contagion attempts to poison, no longer a small part of the Church, but the whole Church at once, then his great concern will be to attach himself to antiquity (Tradition) which can no longer be led astray by any lying novelty.”
    St. Vincent of Lerins

  • baptismOpen or Close

    “When you and I love God or one another, by virtue of our baptism, we love of the same quality as Christ.”
    Archbishop Allen Vigneron

    “At Jesus’ birth His mother Mary held her child close to her heart. So, today the Father holds His beloved Son for all people to adore. Jesus is baptized so all Christians may follow Him with confidence.”
    Bishop Maximus of Turin

    “What happens in Baptism? We become united forever with Jesus, to be born again to a new life.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “In our ecclesiastical region (Buenos Aires) there are priests who don’t baptize the children of single mothers because they weren’t conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today’s hypocrites. Those who clericalise the church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it’s baptised!”
    Pope Francis

    “As to what pertains to the case of infants: You (Fidus) said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born.”
    St. Cyprian of Carthage

    “Just as Christ, after His baptism and the coming upon Him of the Holy Spirit went forth and defeated the adversary, so also with you. After holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the full suit of armor of the Holy Spirit, you are to withstand the power of the adversary, and defeat him, saying, 'I am able to do all things in Christ, Who strengthens me.'”
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem

    “I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: 'The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'”
    St. Francis Xavier

    “Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with Him; let us go down with Him to be raised with Him; and let us rise with Him to be glorified with Him.”
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus

    “Faith consists not only of being baptized in Christ, but also in fulfilling His commandments. Holy Baptism is perfect and gives us perfection, but does not make perfect those who do not follow the commandments.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

  • charityOpen or Close

    “Charity binds us to perfection.”
    Archbishop Philip Hannan

    “We must not seek the child Jesus in the pretty figures of our Christmas cribs. We must seek him among the undernourished children who have gone to bed at night with nothing to eat, among the poor newsboys who will sleep covered with newspapers in doorways.”
    Archbishop Oscar Romero

    “Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have left.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Those who cannot see the face of Christ in the poor are atheists indeed.”
    Dorothy Day

    “We must talk about poverty, because people insulated by their own comfort lose sight of it.”
    Dorothy Day

    “Charity is only as warm as those who administer it.”
    Dorothy Day

    “I firmly believe that our salvation depends on the poor.”
    Dorothy Day

    “We believe in loving our brothers regardless of race, color or creed and we believe in showing this love by working for better conditions immediately and the ultimate owning by the workers of their means of production”
    Dorothy Day

    “Christ said, 'Go and give all you have to the poor and become the servant of all,' for if you do that, you'll become a thousand times richer because your happiness won't be made just of good food, rich clothes, satisfied vanity, and appeased envy. Instead it will be built on love, love multiplied by love without end. And then you will gain not just riches, but the whole world!”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    “There is no real overpopulation problem. No doubt, the poor countries generally have a higher rate of population growth. In fact, they seem to have a higher rate of population.  This is difficult to sustain, that is, a population growth, in the context of low economic and social development. And hear it, and weep:  the United States is a world leader in keeping poor countries poor.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Charity to the afflicted must be dear to the heart of Jesus, who knew so well how to sorrow with those he loved. I hope we shall ever bear this in mind.”
    St. Mary MacKillop

    “All things are perceived in the light of charity, and hence under the aspect of beauty; for beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love.”
    Evelyn Underhill

    “Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness which it must bring. But at the same time, chastity is the sure way to happiness.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “It is now for the Catholic Church to bend herself to her work with calmness and generosity. It is for you to observe her with renewed and friendly attention.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “The world calls for and expects from us simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility. Without this mark of holiness, our word will have difficulty in touching the heart of modern man. It risks being vain and sterile.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “True charity consists in doing good to those who do us evil, and in thus winning them over.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “A good tree, that is, a good heart as well as a soul on fire with charity, can do nothing but good and holy works. For this reason Saint Augustine said: "Love, and do what you will," namely, possess love and charity and then do what you will. It is as if he had said: Charity is not able to sin.”
    St. Angela Merici

    “The measure of charity may be taken from the want of desires. As desires diminish in the soul, charity increases in it; and when it no longer feels any desire, then it possesses perfect charity.”
    St. Augustine

    “The bread in your box belongs to the hungry; the cloak in your closet belongs to the naked; the shoes you do not wear belong to the barefoot; the money in your vault belongs to the destitute.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “No act is charitable if it is not just.”
    St. Bruno

    “This my goodness does to endow the souls of the just more fully with spiritual riches when for my love they are stripped of material goods because they have renounced the world and all its pleasures and even their own will. These are the ones who fatten their souls, enlarging them in the abyss of my charity. Then I become their spiritual provider. The Holy Spirit becomes their servant.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “Charity is the sweet and holy bond which links the soul with its Creator: it binds God with man and man with God.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “Charity unites us to God. There is nothing mean in charity, nothing arrogant. Charity knows no schism, does not rebel, does all things in concord. In charity all the elect of God have been made perfect.”
    St. Clement

    “Everything I own really belongs to the poor.”
    St. Elizabeth of Hungary

    “Salvation is shown to faith, it is prepared for hope, but it is given only to charity. Faith points out the way to the land of promise as a pillar of fire hope feeds us with its manna of sweetness, but charity actually introduces us into the Promised Land.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “There is nothing which edifies others so much as charity and kindness, by which, as by the oil in our lamp, the flame of good example is kept alive.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could.”
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus

    “What good is it if the Eucharistic table is overloaded with golden chalices when your brother is dying of hunger. Start by satisfying his hunger and then with what is left you may adorn the altar as well.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Love the poor tenderly, regarding them as your masters and yourselves as their servants.”
    St. John of God

    “Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”
    St. Louise de Marillac

    “The poor stretch out the hand, but God receives what is offered.”
    St. Peter Chrysologus

    “We must speak to them (slaves) with our hands by giving, before we try to speak to them with our lips.”
    St. Peter Claver

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

    “Let prayer delight thee more than disputations, and the charity which buildeth up more than the knowledge which puffeth up.”
    St. Robert Bellarmine

    “True charity consists in putting up with all one's neighbor's faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “If you want God to hear your prayers, hear the voice of the poor. If you wish God to anticipate your wants, provide those of the needy without waiting for them to ask you. Especially anticipate the needs of those who are ashamed to beg. To make them ask for alms is to make them buy it.”
    St. Thomas of Villanova

    “Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

    “Humility and charity are the two master-chords: one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them. Therefore it is necessary, above all, to maintain ourselves in these two virtues; for observe well that the preservation of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and the roof.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

  • chastityOpen or Close

    “Without question, purity is beautiful. We're not talking about repression or prudishness, but about having a confident and serene sense of your dignity and worth.”
    Jason Evert

    “What is the purpose and meaning and nature of sexual intercourse? It seems to me to be quite clear. It’s for two things. It’s for babies and it’s for bonding. And that’s what happens when you have sexual intercourse — you have babies and you bond. My view is, if you don’t want to have babies and you don’t want to bond, then you shouldn’t be having sexual intercourse.”
    Janet Smith

    “If we are going to obtain the grace that a homicidal world needs to be converted, we must ourselves live lives of virtue. No ordinary virtue will do. It must be heroic virtue. Could you be more specific? Sure. What virtue do we especially have to practice? The virtue of chastity.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church, a duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “I have chosen a spouse who cannot be seen with mortal eyes, whose mouth drips with milk and honey.”
    St. Agnes of Rome

    “Anyone, then, who desires to live chastely in Christ Jesus, must flee not only the mouse of lust, but even from its very scent.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted.”
    St. Clement

    “I want to adorn myself, not out of worldly pride, but for the love of God alone — in a fitting manner, however, so as to give my husband no cause to sin, if something about me were to displease him. Only let him love me in the Lord, with a chaste, marital affection, so that we, in the same way, might hope for the reward of eternal life from him who has sanctified the law of marriage.”
    St. Elizabeth of Hungary

    “Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I'll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”
    St. Kateri Tekakwitha

    “I have deliberated enough. For a long time my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen Him for husband and He alone will take me for wife””
    St. Kateri Tekakwitha

  • childrenOpen or Close

    “We must not seek the child Jesus in the pretty figures of our Christmas cribs. We must seek him among the undernourished children who have gone to bed at night with nothing to eat, among the poor newsboys who will sleep covered with newspapers in doorways.”
    Archbishop Oscar Romero

    “The love of man and woman, capable of generating life, is a sign that points to God.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “I doubt if anyone of any tenderness or imagination can see the hand of a child and not be a little frightened of it. It is awful to think of the essential human energy moving so tiny a thing; it is like imagining that human nature could live in the wing of a butterfly or the leaf of a tree. When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that [God] might feel.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “Two places you're guaranteed a miracle: the altar and the womb.”
    Peter Kreeft

    “Now, this is the most amazing thing when you think about it. Sperm, this little sperm, it does not have an immortal soul. And the ovum, you see, it does not have an immortal soul. And when the two come together, where does that immortal soul come from? The sperm doesn’t carry it. The egg doesn’t carry it. Where does it come from? It comes from a new act of creation by God. In each act of conception, there needs to be a new act of creation by God.”
    janet smith

    “What is the purpose and meaning and nature of sexual intercourse? It seems to me to be quite clear. It’s for two things. It’s for babies and it’s for bonding. And that’s what happens when you have sexual intercourse — you have babies and you bond. My view is, if you don’t want to have babies and you don’t want to bond, then you shouldn’t be having sexual intercourse.”
    janet smith

    “The Church’s basic moral principle regarding reproductive technologies is this: if a given technology assists the marital embrace in achieving its natural end, it can be morally acceptable, even praiseworthy. However, if it replaces the marital embrace as the means by which the child is conceived, it’s not in keeping with God’s design.”
    Christopher West

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

    “How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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

    “You must strive to multiply bread so that it suffices for the tables of mankind, and not rather favor an artificial control of birth, which would be irrational, in order to diminish the number of guests at the banquet of life.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “The words of those who bring up children will be as milk if they be good, but as deadly poison if they be evil.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “As to what pertains to the case of infants: You (Fidus) said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified within the eighth day after his birth. In our council it seemed to us far otherwise. No one agreed to the course which you thought should be taken. Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born.”
    St. Cyprian of Carthage

    “For Christ teaches that only those who become again as it were little children, and by the simplicity of that age cut off the inordinate affections of vice, can enter the kingdom of heaven. These follow and obey their father, love their mother; are strangers to covetousness, ill-will, hatred, arrogance, and lying, and are inclined easily to believe what they hear. This disposition of affections opens the way to heaven. We must therefore return to the simplicity of little children, in which we shall bear some resemblance to our Lord's humility.”
    St. Hilary of Poitiers

    “It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the boys. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.”
    St. John Bosco

    “Let us regard those boys over whom we have some authority as our own sons. Let us place ourselves in their service. Let us be ashamed to assume an attitude of superiority. Let us not rule over them except for the purpose of serving them better.”
    St. John Bosco

  • ChristmasOpen or Close

    “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, in a heart so pure, so immaculate, so warm with love for one another.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “When we give each other our Christmas presents in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans and all that lives and moves upon them... And to save us from our own foolishness and from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave himself.”
    Sigrid Undset

    “The Child, the Lord Jesus Christ… Word in our flesh, Wisdom in infancy, Power in weakness, and in true Man, the Lord of Majesty.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Rejoice and be glad that so great and good a Lord, on coming into the Virgin's womb, willed to appear despised, needy, and poor in this world, so that men who were in dire poverty and suffering great need of heavenly food might be made rich in him.”
    St. Clare of Assisi

    “Let us follow the star of inspiration and divine attraction, which calls us to the crib, and let us go thither to adore and love the child Jesus and offer ourselves to him.”
    St. Jane Frances De Chantal

    “Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the One they have followed as He shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the One they have long awaited as He lay hidden among the stars.

    Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.

    So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.”
    St. Peter Chrysologus

    “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 Pietrelcino

    “The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
    And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
    The angels and shepherds praise Him,
    And the magi advance with the star,
    For you are born for us, Little Child, God eternal!”
    St. Romanos the Melodist

  • confirmationOpen or Close

    “Since the Middle Ages, theology — which developed in a context of generous commitment to 'spiritual combat' for Christ — has not hesitated to highlight the strength given by Confirmation to Christians who are called 'soldiers for God.'”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The grace conferred by the Sacrament of Confirmation is more specifically a gift of strength. This gift corresponds to the need for greater zeal in facing the 'spiritual battle' of faith and charity in order to resist temptation and give the witness of Christian word and deed to the world with courage, fervor and perseverance. This zeal is conferred by the Holy Spirit.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “But beware of supposing that this is ordinary ointment. For just as the Bread of the Eucharist after the invocation of the Holy Spirit is simple bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no longer plain ointment, nor, so to speak, common, after the invocation. Rather, it is the gracious gift of Christ; and it is made fit for the imparting of His Godhead by the coming of the Holy Spirit. This ointment is symbolically applied to your forehead and to your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the holy and life-creating Spirit.”
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem

    “Just as Christ, after His baptism and the coming upon Him of the Holy Spirit went forth and defeated the adversary, so also with you. After holy Baptism and the Mystical Chrism, having put on the full suit of armor of the Holy Spirit, you are to withstand the power of the adversary, and defeat him, saying, 'I am able to do all things in Christ, Who strengthens me.'”
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem

    “Forget not the Holy Spirit at the moment of your enlightenment; He is ready to mark your soul with His seal.... He will give you the heavenly and divine seal which makes the devil tremble; He will arm you for the fight; He will give you strength.”
    St. Ephrem of Syria

    “Chrism and Baptism; oil also for a most sweet unguent, wherewith they who already have been initiated by Baptism are sealed, and put on the armor of the Holy Spirit.”
    St. Ephrem of Syria

    “And about your laughing at me and calling me Christian, you know not what you are saying. First, because that which is anointed is sweet and serviceable, and far from contemptible. For what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy, unless it be first anointed? Or what castle or house is beautiful and serviceable when it has not been anointed? And what man, when he enters into this life or into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? And what work has either ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and burnished? Then the air and all that is under heaven is in a certain sort anointed by light and spirit; and are you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God.”
    St. Theophilus of Antioch

  • conversionOpen or Close

    “All problems are reducible to personal problems. If you solve those, you automatically take care of community problems.”
    Archbishop Philip Hannan

    “If more Catholics spent more time in Eucharistic adoration, I think two things would happen: many who have abandoned the regular practice of the faith might well rediscover it. And those who have acquired the bad habit of arriving late for Mass and leaving early might want to linger instead — to spend time with the Lord who thirsts for our Love.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “The denial of personal guilt makes men ready to surrender their liberty. Better it is for a man to realize he has evil tendencies which must be fought and combated in order that his higher self may emerge.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.”
    c.s. lewis

    “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment but not in matters of conscience.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”
    dorothy day

    “The good devout man first makes inner preparation for the actions he has later to perform. His outward actions do not draw him into lust and vice; rather it is he who bends them into the shape of reason and right judgement. Who has a stiffer battle to fight than the man who is striving to conquer himself.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist. but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “During the season of Lent which begins today (Ash Wednesday), we renew our commitment to the path of conversion, making more room for God in our lives.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel ultimately means this: To exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one's own need — the need of others and God, the need of his forgiveness and his friendship.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: He is life! If, up till now, you have kept Him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following Him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust Him, be confident that He is close to you, He is with you and He will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as He would have you do.”
    Pope Francis

    “Let us not hear words of contempt or condone, but only words of love and mercy that invite us to conversion.”
    Pope Francis

    “There are in truth three states of the converted: the beginning, the middle, and the perfection. In the beginning, they experience the charms of sweetness; in the middle, the contests of temptation; and in the end, the fullness of perfection.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “He became what we are that He might make us what He is.”
    St. Athanasius the Great

    “You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.”
    St. Athanasius the Great

    “Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet.”
    St. Augustine

    “God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to allow no evil to exist.”
    St. Augustine

    “Your first task is to be dissatisfied with yourself, fight sin, and transform yourself into something better. Your second task is to put up with the trials and temptations of this world that will be brought on by the change in your life and to persevere to the very end in the midst of these things.”
    St. Augustine

    “Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.”
    St. Augustine

    “I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where the true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God himself.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “All of us can attain to Christian virtue and holiness, no matter in what condition of life we live and no matter what our life work may be.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “God takes pleasure to see you take your little steps; and like a good father who holds his child by the hand, He will accommodate His steps to yours and will be content to go no faster than you.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Help yourself and God will help you.”
    St. Joan of Arc

    “Fasting is the change of every part of our life, because the sacrifice of the fast is not the abstinence but the distancing from sins. Therefore, whoever limits the fast to the deprivation of food, he is the one who, in reality, abhors and ridicules the fast. Are you fasting? Show me your fast with your works. Which works? If you see someone who is poor, show him mercy. If you see an enemy, reconcile with him. If you see a friend who is becoming successful, do not be jealous of him! If you see a beautiful woman on the street, pass her by.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “It is a matter of real sorrow when God has given those strength to break stronger fetters, those of vanity and sin, that they neglect their own progress and the attainment of such great blessings because they will not detach themselves from trifles. Not only do they not advance, they fall back. For it is well known that on the spiritual road not to go on overcoming self is to go backwards, and not to increase our gain is to lose. As wood can never be transformed into fire if one necessary degree of heat is missing, so the soul that has even one imperfection can never be perfectly transformed in God.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.”
    St. John of God

    “Be specific. Don't let your resolutions be like fireworks that sparkle for an instant, only to leave as bitter reality a blackened, useless butt that is disgustedly thrown away.

    Make few resolutions. Make specific resolutions. And fulfill them with the help of God.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be His servant. So what am I doing here?”
    St. Monica

    “The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.”
    St. Peter of Alcantara

    “For our sake Christ offered himself to the Father upon the altar for the cross. He now looks down from heaven on our actions and secret thoughts, and one day he will give each of us the reward his deeds deserve.

    It must therefore be our endeavor to destroy the right of sin and death, and by nurturing faith and uprightness of life, to build up the Church of Christ into a holy temple of the Lord.”
    St. Thomas Becket

    “To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • courageOpen or Close

    “We have nothing to fear, but we have a world to win for Him. We have nothing to fear, for we have an eternal destiny in Heaven. We have nothing to fear, though the earth may quake, kingdoms may rise and fall, demons may rage, but St. Michael the Archangel, and all the hosts of heaven, fight on our behalf.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “The grace conferred by the Sacrament of Confirmation is more specifically a gift of strength. This gift corresponds to the need for greater zeal in facing the 'spiritual battle' of faith and charity in order to resist temptation and give the witness of Christian word and deed to the world with courage, fervor and perseverance. This zeal is conferred by the Holy Spirit.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.”
    Blessed Titus Brandsma

    “Calculation never made a hero.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Courage does not consist in calculation, but in fighting against chances.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Grace flows through wounds.”
    christopher west

    “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Dear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord had allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, His name will continue to resound throughout the world.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Let us never give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day. Do not give in to pessimism and discouragement. We have the firm certainty that the Holy Spirit gives the Church with His mighty breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”
    Pope Francis

    “Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors to Christ.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond the pain.”
    St. Bartholomew

    “If I saw the gates of Hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss, I should not despair, I should not lose hope of mercy, because I should trust in You, my God.”
    St. Gemma Galgani

    “Do not be afraid. Death is only God who is passing by.”
    St. Jeanne-Marie Kerguin

    “I do not fear the soldiers, for my road is made open to me; and if the soldiers come, I have God, my Lord, who will know how to clear the route that leads to messire the Dauphin. It was for this that I was born!”
    st. joan of arc

    “The person with fortitude is the one who perseveres in doing what his conscience tells him he ought to do. He does not measure the value of a task exclusively by the benefit he derives from it, but rather by the service he renders to others.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me — I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.”
    St. Josephine Bakhita

    “It is only necessary to say energetically 'I will,' and all will go well.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “Put me in the front of the army, without weapons or armor; but I will not draw sword again. I am become the soldier of Christ.”
    St. Martin of Tours

    “Courage, my sons, Don't you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes.”
    St. Maximilian Kolbe

    “What has a person to fear who lives in the arms and bosom of God?”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “One who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life... If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

  • cultureOpen or Close

    “The American experience of personal freedom and civil peace would be inconceivable without a religious grounding and a predominantly Christian inspiration. The reason is simple. What we believe about God shapes what we believe about man. And what we believe about man shapes what we believe about the purpose and proper structure of human society. So it should surprise no one the at the heart of American life is a Christian-informed tradition of what it means to be human.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “There is a problem here — an injustice, really — in the way that some people are so often identified by what they are against. Opposition to same-sex marriage is a natural consequence of what we are for, i.e., preserving the traditional, natural understanding of marriage in the culture and in the law.”
    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

    “All problems are reducible to personal problems. If you solve those, you automatically take care of community problems.”
    Archbishop Philip Hannan

    “We are recognizing that a culture of life is also a culture of freedom and that a culture of death is a culture of oppression, indeed a dictatorship of relativism…Through (Mary's) intercession, may we be given the wisdom, courage and strength we need to employ our God-given liberty to protect life, to strengthen the family and to continue contributing mightily to the common good of society for the good of our nation, for the up-building of the church and for the salvation of souls.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “I am worried about America! I am not so much worried about its politics and economics, important though they be: I am worried about its soul. After all, politics and economics are determined by the sense of values which underlies them.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “The days in which we live now require heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead be Catholics by conviction.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “Given the breakdown in family life, the wholesale attack on innocent and defenseless human lives, and the violation of the integrity of the union of marriage in our society, the call to the martyrdom of witness is ever more urgent.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.”
    Cardinal Francis George

    “The risk of indifference, which is the hallmark of contemporary society, is to ignore, to remain inert.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Brotherly love is a dewy freshness and aridity in the monotony of personal and community life.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “For modernism tends to make a cult of feelings, especially of pleasure. Whatever is against these feelings is dismissed as wrong, stunting to one's personal happiness. Saying 'no' to self is not popular these days, and thus is a modernist affliction upon ascetical living — even spirituality can become one more 'I-centered' promotion of commotion. Think of it this way: When I say 'no' to self (to food or drink or anger or entertainment) then I am saying 'Yes' to God.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”
    Charles Carroll

    “Truth has nothing to do with the number of people it convinces.”
    Paul Claudel

    “The legal battle against segregation is won, but the community battle goes on.”
    dorothy day

    “We cannot build up the idea of the apostolate of the laity without the foundation of the liturgy.””
    dorothy day

    “Men are beginning to realize that they are not individuals but persons in society, that man alone is weak and adrift, that he must seek strength in common action.”
    dorothy day

    “Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “The way to begin healing the wounds of the world is to treasure the Infant Christ in us; to be not the castle but the cradle of Christ; and, in rocking that cradle to the rhythm of love, to swing the whole world back into the beat of the Music of Eternal Life.”
    Caryll Houselander

    “A great purposelessness has descended upon modern civilizations. People at large have lost any sense of the meaning and purpose of life; and without an understanding of our own purpose, there can be no true commitment. Whether that commitment is to marriage, family, study, work, God, relationships, or the simple resolutions of our lives, it will be almost impossible to fulfill without a clear and practical understanding of our purpose. Commitment and purpose go hand in hand.”
    matthew kelly

    “We live in a culture in which condoms can be handed out in schools and Bibles can’t. And I think that tells you everything you need to know about our society.”
    janet smith

    “We need to realize that a society in which contraceptives are widely used is going to have a very difficult time keeping free of abortions since the lifestyles and attitudes that contraception fosters create an alleged 'need' for abortion.”
    janet smith

    “If we want to know what’s most sacred in this world, all we need to do is look for what is most violently profaned.”
    Christopher West

    “And by now the world has invented an ocean of ways of substituting, or trying to substitute, for the absence of happiness in sinners.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “We live in a culture of affluence — food abundance, super supermarkets and fifty foot salad bars. Proverbially stare in the refrigerator and wonder what to eat for minutes as you stand in your so-called suffering and 'hunger pains.' So much yet so picky, you get finicky and forget your blessings.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: these feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth...is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “I think the world today is upside down. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater development and greater riches and so on. There is much suffering because there is so very little love in homes and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “We are no longer able to hear God — there are too many frequencies filling our ears.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “An Adult faith does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelties.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The Faith does not mean an alienation from any culture for any people because all cultures await Christ and are not destroyed by the Lord. In fact, they reach their maturity.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and ‘swept along by every wind of teaching,’ looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The truth is not always the same as the majority decision.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

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

    “To overcome today's individualistic mentality, a concrete commitment to solidarity and charity is needed, beginning in the family.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Young people are threatened by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “And do not listen to those who keep saying, 'The voice of the people is the voice of God.' because the tumult of the crowd is always close to madness.”
    St. Alcuin

    “The Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church's foundation is unshakable and firm against assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.”
    St. Angela Merici

    “We believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church, and in one Baptism of repentance, and in the resurrection of the dead and the just judgement of souls and bodies, and in the kingdom of heaven, and in eternal life.

    But those who say that there was a time when the Son or the Holy Spirit was not, or was made out of nothing or of another substance or essence, who say the Son of God or the Holy Spirit is liable to change or to becoming different, these people the Catholic and Apostolic Church, your Mother and ours, anathematizes; and again we anathematize those who do not confess the resurrection of the dead, and all heresies which are not consistent with this, the true faith.”
    St. Epiphanius of Salamis

    “People can pass thirty nights in dancing and no one complains about it, but if they watch through a single Christmas night they cough and claim their stomach is upset the next morning. Does anyone fail to see that the world is an unjust judge, gracious and well disposed to its own children but harsh and rigorous towards the children of God?”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Do not bestow your love on the world.”
    St. Gabriel Possenti

    “You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions.”
    St. John Vianney

    “I have endeavored to learn all doctrines; but I have acquiesced at last in the true doctrines, those namely of the Christians, even though they do not please those who hold false opinions.”
    St. Justin

    “The man who flees and lives in solitude is like a bunch of grapes ripened by the sun, but he who remains amongst men is like an unripe grape.”
    St. Moses of Ethiopia

    “Households, cities, countries, and nations have enjoyed great happiness when a single individual has taken heed of the Good and Beautiful. Such people not only liberate themselves; they fill those they meet with a free mind.”
    St. Philo of Alexandria

    “What a pity it is that, through we are on earth simply to prepare for Heaven, we hardly ever speak of it. How we waste our life and our energies!”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

  • deathOpen or Close

    “From my perspective... I will accomplish in death what I could not in life because as priests we are most fully alive when we die. If we don’t feel that way, we certainly have not served the cause of Christ as we were meant to. In the final spiritual analysis, to fulfill the will of God, a priest must die in life as did his own Son. And when that time comes, with the grace of God, I am ready.”
    Archbishop Philip Hannan

    “They (prisoners) die in different ways, and I help them to cross over this little bridge into eternity. Is this not a blessing? Isn't this the greatest crown which God could have placed upon my head? It is indeed. I thank God a thousand times a day for sending me here. I do not ask him for anything else. Do not worry, and do not lose faith at what I share. Instead, rejoice with me. Pray for those who created this concentration camp and this system. They are the only ones who need prayers . . May God have mercy upon them.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “So killing the incurably ill or the dying, and that can be as you know, the killing of one’s self, or the killing of others.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “What is the underlying philosophy behind the growing practice of killing the incurably ill and the dying. Behind this practice is the philosophy which ignores or denies the value of suffering.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “What is a more fundamental error underlying what is called euthanasia? A more fundamental error is the blasphemous attitude which these people think that they can control life and death by taking the decisions into their own hands. Only God has a right to determine who will be conceived and born.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “If we knew at what time we were to depart from this world, we would be able to select a season for pleasure and another for repentance. But God, who has promised pardon to every repentant sinner, has not promised us tomorrow. Therefore we must always dread the final day, which we can never foresee. This very day is a day of truce, a day for conversion. And yet we refuse to cry over the evil we have done! Not only do we not weep for the sins we have committed, we even add to them.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “I find only one fault with you, death, that you are too niggardly with those who long for you, and too lavish with those who flee from you.”
    St. Catherine of Genoa

    “Do not be afraid. Death is only God who is passing by.”
    St. Jeanne-Marie Kerguin

    “Your life consists in drawing nearer to God. To do this you must endeavor to detach yourself from visible things and remember that in a short time they will be taken from you.”
    St. John of Avila

    “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life... If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “I am very glad I shall soon go to heaven, but I think of these words of God. 'I carry my reward with me to render to each according to his works,' I tell myself that in my case He will be quite embarrassed. I have no works! He will then be unable to render to me 'according to my works.' Well, He will then render to me according to His own works!”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

  • deceitOpen or Close

    “Baloney is flattery laid on so thick it cannot be true, and blarney is flattery so thin we love it.”
    Archbishop fulton Sheen

    “An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: these feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth...is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “The enemy of the human race . . . invented a means never before heard of, by which he might hinder the preaching of God's word of Salvation to the people.”
    Pope Paul III

    “Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.”
    St. Charles Borromeo

    “The devil keeps man from good with a thousand machinations spewed from his belly, so that when a person sighs to do good, he pierces him with his shafts; and when he desires to embrace God with his whole heart in love, he subjects him to poisonous tribulations, seeking to pervert good work before God. And when a person seeks the viridity of virtue, the devil tells him that he does not know what he is doing, and he teaches him that he can set his own law for himself.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “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

    “Whoever bids other folks to do right, but gives an evil example by acting the opposite way, is like a foolish weaver who weaves quickly with one hand and unravels the cloth just as quickly with the other.”
    St. Thomas More

    “I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.”
    Dorothy Day

  • dialogueOpen or Close

    “Words are as strong and powerful as bombs, as napalm.”
    dorothy day

    “Oftentimes this fear (of dialogue) stems from the fact that the person doesn’t feel capable of defending or justifying his own reasons, hence he doesn’t want to listen to the other.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Events in our world show the tragic effects of the lack of listening: conflicts in families, gaps between generations and nations, and violence. People are trapped in a milieu of monologues, inattentiveness, noise, intolerance, and self-absorption. The Church can provide a milieu of dialogue, respect, mutuality and self-transcendence.”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “The word is a thing of mystery, so volatile that it vanishes almost on the lip, yet so powerful that it decides fates and determines the meaning of existence. A frail structure shaped by fleeting sound, it yet contains the eternal: truth. Words come from within, rising as sounds fashioned by the organs of a man's body, as expressions of his heart and spirit. He utters them, yet he does not create them, for they already existed independently of him. One word is related to another; together they form the great unity of language, that empire of truth-forms in which a man lives.”
    Fr. Romano Guardini

    “Words of love and affirmation are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “He who communicates most frequently will be freest from sin, and will make farthest progress in Divine Love.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “When we have to reply to anyone who has insulted us, we should be careful to do it always with gentleness. A soft answer extinguishes the fire of wrath.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Spend time every day listening to what your muse is trying to tell you.”
    St. Bartholomew

    “We've had enough if exhortations to be silent! Cry out with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “If a tiny spark of God's love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.”
    St. Charles Borromeo

    “Worldly friendship is profuse in honeyed words…while true friendship speaks a simple honest language, lauding nought save the Grace of God, its one only foundation.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “In serious matters it is better to beg God humbly than to send forth a flood of words that will only offend the listeners and have no effect on those who are guilty.”
    St. John Bosco

    “No matter how good food is, if poison is mixed with it, it may cause the death of him who eats it. So it is with conversation. A single bad word, an evil action, an unbecoming joke, is often enough to harm one or more young listeners, and may later cause them to lose God's grace.”
    St. John Bosco

    “Avoid slander because it is difficult to retract. Avoid offending anyone for to ask forgiveness is not delightful.”
    St. John Cantius

    “Let the mouth fast from disgraceful and abusive words, because, what gain is there when, on the one hand we avoid eating chicken and fish and, on the other, we chew-up and consume our brothers? He who condemns and blasphemes is as if he has eaten brotherly meat, as if he has bitten into the flesh of his fellow man. It is because of this that Paul frightened us, saying: 'If you chew up and consume one another be careful that you do not annihilate yourselves.'”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Conquering the tongue is better than fasting on bread and water!”
    St. John of the Cross

    “No tongue can express the greatness of the love which Jesus Christ bears to our souls. He did not wish that between Him and His servants there should be any other pledge than Himself, to keep alive the remembrance of Him.”
    St. Peter of Alcantara

    “We must speak to them (slaves) with our hands by giving, before we try to speak to them with our lips.”
    St. Peter Claver

    “Gray hairs are signs of wisdom if you hold your tongue, speak and they are but hairs, as in the young.”
    St. Philo of Alexandria

    “Remember that the Christian life is one of action; not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds, and let them be done well.”
    St. Vincent Pallotti

  • diligenceOpen or Close

    “At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.”
    Thomas Merton

    “We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have — for their usefulness.”
    Thomas Merton

    “It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.”
    J.R.R. Tolkien

    “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
    J.R.R. Tolkien

    “Nothing we do to defend the human person, no matter how small, is ever unfruitful or forgotten. Our actions touch other lives and move other hearts in ways we can never fully understand in this world. Don’t ever underestimate the beauty and power of the witness you give in your pro-life work.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Learn to do thy part and leave the rest to Heaven.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Conscience has rights because it has duties.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission — I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I have a part in a great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “The most potent prayer before God is the prayer of action.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Every time we perform a good action we increase the grace in our souls. That's the Divine Justice. And, correspondingly, every good action we perform, deserves from God, and He always rewards, with happiness.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: 'saint.' It a more difficult degree to attain. It takes a lifetime, and you don't get your diploma until you're dead.”
    Mother Angelica

    “The faith given to me in baptism suggests to me surely: by yourself you will do nothing, but if you have God as the center of all your action, then you will reach the goal.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “God doesn’t ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “The future starts today, not tomorrow.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”
    pope paul vi

    “He who would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not leaps.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “Every day you provide your bodies with good food to keep them from failing. In the same way, your good works should be the daily nourishment of your hearts. Your bodies are fed with food and your spirits with good works. You aren’t to deny your soul, which is going to live forever, what you grant to your body, which is going to die.”
    pope st. gregory i

    “Nothing else is required than to act toward God, in the midst of your occupations, as you do, even when busy, toward those who love you and whom you love.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
    St. Augustine

    “He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.”
    st. benedict of nursia

    “Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection.”
    st. benedict of nursia

    “By your work you show what you love and what you know.”
    St. Bruno

    “Love God, serve God; everything is in that.”
    St. Clare of Assisi

    “We will have to labor hard, to sweat, to die: but the thought that one sweats and dies for love of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the most abandoned souls in the world, is far too sweet for us to desist from this great enterprise.”
    St. Daniel Comboni

    “A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.”
    St. Dominic de Guzman

    “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “An action of small value performed with much love of God is far more excellent than one of a higher virtue, done with less love of God.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Do everything calmly and peacefully. Do as much as you can as well as you can. Strive to see God in all things without exception, and consent to His will joyously. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to him in word and deed. Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord and be at peace with yourself.”
    st. francis de sales

    “It is not the actual physical exertion that counts toward a man’s progress, nor the nature of the task, but the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.”
    st. francis xavier

    “Start by doing what is necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
    st. francis of assisi

    “Our perfection does not consist of doing extraordinary things but to do the ordinary well.”
    St. Gabriel Possenti

    “Hell is full of the talented, but Heaven of the energetic.”
    St. Jane Frances de Chantal

    “Help yourself and God will help you.”
    St. Joan of Arc

    “The Lord measures our perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Labor without stopping; do all the good works you can while you still have the time.”
    St. John of God

    “Do everything as if He were dwelling in us. Thus we shall be His temples and He will be within us as our God — as He actually is.”
    st. ignatius of antioch

    “Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.”
    st. jerome

    “Even though knowledge is true, it is still not firmly established if unaccompanied by works. For everything is established by being put into practice.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

    “The hands should be at work, the heart with God.”
    St. Mary Joseph Rosello

    “All religious are under an obligation, in accordance with the particular vocation of each, to work zealously and diligently for the building up and growth of the whole mystical body of Christ and for the good of the particular churches. It is their duty to foster these objectives primarily by means of prayer, works of penance, and by the example of their own lives.”
    St. Scholastica

    “Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.”
    st. therese of lisieux

    “Each small task of everyday life is part of the harmony of the universe.”
    st. therese of lisieux

    “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.”
    st. therese of lisieux

    “Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors.”
    st. therese of lisieux

    “All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.”
    st. thomas aquinas

    “Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be.”
    St. Thomas More

    “(It) is not enough to pray, Thy kingdom come, but to work, so that the Kingdom of God will exist among us today.”
    St. Ursula Ledochowska

    “However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.”
    st. vincent de paul

    “Remember that the Christian life is one of action; not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds, and let them be done well.”
    St. Vincent Pallotti

  • dominionOpen or Close

    “Religion is one dimension of culture, a transcendent element of it.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This (illness) is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.”
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe

    “I see God in the work of His hands and the marks of His love in every visible thing, and it sometimes happens that I am seized by a supreme joy which is above all other joys.”
    Blessed Titus Brandsma

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

    “God has given me authority in heaven and on earth, but my writ does not extend to hell. You will just have to put up with it.”
    Pope Paul III

    “Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “God decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Jesus Christ can do very little if He cannot uphold me from day to day. He will not fail to reproach me if I begin to relax; each day He will counsel me and give me new strength; He will instruct, console, and encourage me and give me all the graces for which I pray.”
    St. Claude de la Colombiere

    “If from time to time we meditated seriously on this truth of our faith it would be enough to stifle all complaint in whatever loss or misfortune we suffer. What I have the Lord gave me, it has been taken away by Him. It is not a lawsuit or a thief that has ruined you or a certain person that has slandered you; if your child dies it is not by accident or wrong treatment, but because God, to whom all belongs, has not wished you to keep it longer.”
    St. Claude de la Colombiere

    “To prefer man to God: A strange and unhappy slavery is that of a man who seeks to please other men. I vow never to do anything nor to leave anything undone because of what people think. This will set up in me a great interior peace.”
    St. Claude de la Colombiere

    “As in heaven Your will is punctually performed, so may it be done on earth by all creatures, particularly in me and by me.”
    St. Elizabeth of Hungary

    “A human being is a vessel that God has built for himself and filled with his inspiration so that his works are perfected in it.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “Like hairs on the head, mortal man is joined to Jesus Christ, the head of all, but they are full of transgressions and sins because of man's delight in the flesh. But the Church regenerates and purifies these from the unclean stench and filth of sin by penitence and confession, just as hair is cleansed from dew and drops, and as dust is shaken out and cleansed from wool.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “A Christian is not his own master, since all his time belongs to God.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will, all I have and all I possess. You gave it all to me; to you, Lord, I return it. It is all yours: do with me entirely as you will. Give me your love and your grace: this is enough for me.”
    st. ignatius of loyola

    O most holy cross, transform us completely into yourself. Let your base become our feet, your beams our arms, your summit our head. And so that we may become the cross, nail our feet that they may be fixed in you; bind our arms that they may not act apart form you; open our side, wound breast and touch our heart with love for you. Grant that our eyes may see nothing but you; our ears hear nothing but you; our nostrils smell nothing but you. O cross, rest in us now, as once Christ rested upon you; may we thirst for you, just as Christ, while hanging upon you, thirsted for us. May we commend ourselves to Him who hung upon you, just as he commended himself to the Eternal Father. O sweet cross, o loving cross, be our defense and our support.”
    St. Joseph of Leonessa

    “God is love, and all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the Incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of his goodness and love and glory. So, Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first-born of every creature, and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam had not sinned.”
    St. Lawrence of Brindisi

    “Let us ask our Lord to work in us and through us, and let us do our utmost to draw Him down into our hearts, for He Himself has said: 'Without Me you can do nothing.'”
    St. Madeline Sophie Barat

    “Born as a son,
    led forth as a lamb,
    sacrificed as a sheep,
    buried as a man,
    He rose from the dead as a God,
    for He was by nature God and Man.
    He is all things: He judges, and so He is Law;
    He teaches, and so He is Word;
    He saves, and so He is Grace;
    He begets, and so He is Father,
    He is begotten, and so He is Son;
    He suffers, and so He is Sacrifice;
    He is buried, and so He is Man;
    He rises again, and so He is God.
    This is Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs Glory for all ages.”
    St. Melito of Sardis

    “Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the One they have followed as He shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the One they have long awaited as He lay hidden among the stars.

    Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.

    So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.”
    St. Peter Chrysologus

    “Now that we are reborn, as I have said, in the likeness of our Lord, and have indeed been adopted by God as his children, let us put on the complete image of our Creator so as to be wholly like him, not in the glory that he alone possesses, but in innocence, simplicity, gentleness, patience, humility, mercy, harmony, those qualities in which he chose to become, and to be, one with us.”
    St. Peter Chrysologus

    “Our Redeemer, ever present in the most Blessed Sacrament, extends His hand to everyone. He opens His heart and says, 'Come to Me, all of You.'”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding His life we find that He is the best example.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “God's universal providence works through secondary causes....The world of pure spirits stretches between the Divine Nature and the world of human beings; because Divine Wisdom has ordained that the higher should look after the lower, Angels execute the Divine plan for human salvation: they are our Guardians, who free us when hindered and help to bring us home.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • EasterOpen or Close

    “Faith in the resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered… God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: He is life! If, up till now, you have kept Him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following Him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust Him, be confident that He is close to you, He is with you and He will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as He would have you do.”
    Pope Francis

    “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “And He departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here.”
    St. Augustine

    “Now let the heavens be joyful,
    Let earth her song begin:
    Let the round world keep triumph,
    And all that is therein;
    Invisible and visible,
    Their notes let all things blend,
    For Christ the Lord is risen
    Our joy that hath no end.”
    St. John of Damascus

  • ecumenismOpen or Close

    “Remarkable is the greater openness of the Catholic Church towards people of other religious traditions and persuasions. The development has not been without problems, since some people have resisted it and others have pushed openness beyond the desirable point.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “With reference to other religions, the Church sees a great difference between them and herself. The other religions are expressions of the human soul seeking God, with some beautiful spiritual insights, but also not without errors. Christianity is rather God seeking humanity.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “The Catholic Church embraces with hope the commitment to ecumenism as a duty of the Christian conscience enlightened by faith and guided by love, Jesus himself, at the hour of his Passion, prayed 'that they may all be one' (Jn 17:21). This unity, which the Lord has bestowed on his Church and in which he wishes to embrace all people, is not something added on, but stands at the very heart of Christ's mission. Nor is it some secondary attribute of the community of his disciples. Rather, it belongs to the very essence of this community.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “It is my ardent hope that Muslim and Christian religious leaders and teachers will present our two great religious communities as communities in respectful dialogue, never more as communities in conflict.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Thus it is absolutely clear that ecumenism, the movement promoting Christian Unity, is not just some sort of ‘appendix’ [the Holy Father’s emphasis] which is added to the church’s traditional activity. Rather, ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work, and consequently must pervade all she is and does.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “I would encourage sincere and trustful dialogue between Jews and Christians, for only in this way will it be possible to arrive at a shared interpretation of disputed historical questions, and, above all, to make progress towards a theological evaluation of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

  • educationOpen or Close

    “Real education should consist of drawing the goodness and the best out of our own students. What better books can there be than the book of humanity?”
    Cesar Chavez

    “Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “Intelligence is nothing without delight.”
    Paul Claudel

    “At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.”
    Alexis de Tocqueville

    “There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Connected with our prayer must be the thoughtful and faithful reflection upon the Church's teaching on the respect for all human life and the integrity of the family. In our homes, in our Catholic schools and universities, in parish study groups, and in everyday conversations and discussions with our neighbors, we are called to give an uncompromising witness to the Gospel of Life. Parents, parish priests and institutions of Catholic education must be aware of the constant anti-life and anti-family messages which constantly bombard us and our young people.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “Right reason, that is, reason rightly exercised, leads the mind to the Catholic faith, and plants it there, and teaches it in all its religious speculations to act under its guidance.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “A great memory does not make a mind any more than a dictionary is a piece of literature.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Nothing is more common than for men to think that because they are familiar with words they understand the ideas they stand for.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “We must make up our minds to be ignorant of much, if we would know anything.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “A peaceful man does more good than a learned one.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “Teach nothing new, but implant in the hearts of everyone those things which the fathers of venerable memory taught with a uniform preaching ... Whence, we preach nothing except what we have received from our forefathers. In all things, therefore, both in the rule of faith in the observance of discipline, let the pattern of antiquity be observed.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
    St. Augustine

    “Let everyone who has the grace of intelligence fear that, because of it, he will be judged more heavily if he is negligent.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “The conscientious reader will be more concerned to carry out what he has read than merely to acquire knowledge of it. In reading we aim at knowing, but we must put into practice what we have learned in our course of study.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “Reading the Holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns man's attention from the follies of the world and leads him to the love of God.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “The man who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded, equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth. ”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “Learning unsupported by grace may get into our ears; it never reaches the heart. But when God's grace touches our innermost minds to bring understanding, his word which has been received by the ear sinks deep into the heart.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
    st. jerome

    “Whosoever you are who introduce new doctrines, I beseech you to spare the ears of Romans! Spare that faith which was commended by the voice of an Apostle. Why should you attempt to teach us, at the end of hundreds of years, that which we never heard before? Why bring forward what Peter and Paul did not will to make known? Until this day, the world was Christian without your doctrine. Thus, I hold as an old man onto that faith wherein I was regenerated as a boy.”
    St. Jerome

    “What kind of work can be more noble than to cultivate the minds of young people, guarding it carefully, so that the knowledge and love of God and His holy precepts go hand-in-hand with learning? To form young Christians and citizens — isn’t this the most beautiful and noble-minded way to make use of life, of all one’s talents and energy?”
    St. John Cantius

    “I have endeavored to learn all doctrines; but I have acquiesced at last in the true doctrines, those namely of the Christians, even though they do not please those who hold false opinions.”
    St. Justin

    “Even though knowledge is true, it is still not firmly established if unaccompanied by works. For everything is established by being put into practice.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

    “It is very good and holy to consider the passion of our Lord, and to meditate on it, for by this sacred path we reach union with God. In this most holy school we learn true wisdom, for it was there that all the saints learned it.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “Gray hairs are signs of wisdom if you hold your tongue, speak and they are but hairs, as in the young.”
    St. Philo of Alexandria

    “If I should say anything that is not in conformity with what is held by the Holy Roman Catholic Church, it will be through ignorance and not through malice.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Untilled soil, however fertile it may be, will bear thistles and thorns; and so it is with man's mind.”
    st. teresa of avila

    “Jesus needs neither books nor Doctors of Divinity in order to instruct souls; He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches without noise of words.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Concerning God, we cannot grasp what He is, but only what He is not, and how other beings stand in relation to Him.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Wonder is the desire for knowledge.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “To love God is something greater than to know Him.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “We can’t have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Read good and useful books, and abstain from reading those that only gratify curiosity.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

  • empathyOpen or Close

    “Compassion is the most important and perhaps the only law of all humanity.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    “I thank God for His goodness to me. Apart from heaven, this (prison camp) is the one place where I wish to remain. Here we are all equal: Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Latvians and Estonians. Of all these here I am the only priest. I cannot even imagine how it would be here without me. Here I see God, who is the same for us all, regardless of our religious distinctions. Perhaps our churches are different, but the same great and Almighty God rules over us all. When I celebrate the Divine Liturgy, they all join in prayer.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “When men understand what each other mean, they see, for the most part, that controversy is either superfluous or hopeless.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “The Church must discover the power of silence. Confronted with the sorrows, doubts and uncertainties of people she cannot pretend to give easy solutions. In Jesus, silence becomes the way of attentive listening, compassion and prayer. It is the way to truth.”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “God speaks and the Church, as servant, lends its voice to the Word. But God does not only speak. God also listens especially to the just, widows, orphans, persecuted, and the poor who have no voice. The Church must learn to listen the way God listens and must lend its voice to the voiceless.”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “Compassion is preferable to cleanliness: with a little bit of soap I can clean my bed, but think of the flood of tears I would require to clean from my soul the stain that harshness against this unfortunate would leave.”
    St. Martin de Porres

    “The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him to the greatest extent of our powers.”
    St. Maximilian Kolbe

  • envyOpen or Close

    “Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “He that is not jealous is not in love.”
    St. Augustine

  • eucharistOpen or Close

    “For a Catholic to receive Holy Communion and still deny the revelation Christ entrusted to the Church is to try to say two contradictory things at once: ‘I believe the Church offers the saving truth of Jesus, and I reject what the Church teaches.’ In effect, they would contradict themselves. This sort of behavior would result in publicly renouncing one’s integrity and logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury.”
    Archbishop Allen Vigneron

    “Get the children for first communion and say to them, somebody votes for the killing of unborn babies, and says, I voted for that, I will vote for that every time and these babies are killed, not one or two, but in millions, and that person says I am a practicing Catholic, should that person receive communion next Sunday? The children for first communion will answer that at the drop of a hat. You don’t need a cardinal to answer that.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “The Holy Eucharist is the greatest treasure that the Church has on earth: It is Christ himself.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “Two places you're guaranteed a miracle: the altar and the womb.”
    Peter Kreeft

    “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth.”
    j.r.r. tolkien

    “The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion. Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals.”
    j.r.r. tolkien

    “The Holy Eucharist is our most powerful prayer.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “We are so accustomed to praying at the Sacrifice of the Mass, praying when we receive Holy Communion, and praying before the Blessed Sacrament, that we are liable to forget, and what a lapse of memory this would be, that before, long before, we attach prayer to the Eucharist, we should identify the Holy Eucharist as prayer. It is, and not just the indefinite article 'A' prayer, it is 'THE' prayer. In fact, the most powerful source of grace we have on earth.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The Holy Eucharist is the principle Sacrament. The other six Sacraments are directed to the Eucharist.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The present Holy Father (at that time, Pope John Paul II) has been luminously clear, that when we speak of the Eucharist as a Sacrament, we should always, and from now on without failing, understand by that statement that the Eucharist is a Sacrament, to mean that it is a three-fold Sacrament.  As the Pope tells us, the Eucharist is a sacrifice sacrament, a communion sacrament, and presence sacrament.  Keeping always in mind the moment we use the word Sacrament as Catholics, we mean something in the sensibly perceptible order that signifies the conferral of grace and that produces, that's the Catholic verb, produces, the grace it signifies.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “If we think of the Eucharist as the banquet of Christ's sacrifice, people who leave early choose not to linger with their 'host' and fellow guests. Instead, they rush back into the rough and tumble daily life with little or no opportunity to adore the one whom they have received, the one whose Spirit unites us to the Father and to one another.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white host.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Receiving the Eucharist means adoring Him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with Him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful. It is a source of comfort and light, particularly to those who are suffering.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “In that little Host is the solution to all the problems of the world.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Frequent and daily Communion is greatly desired by our Lord and the Church.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “Whereas in the Lord's Prayer, we are bidden to ask for 'our daily bread,' the Holy Fathers of the Church all but unanimously teach that by these words must be understood, not so much that material bread which is the support of the body, as the Eucharistic bread, which ought to be our daily food.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “If you are sinful, repent so that you can communicate often. If you are imperfect, go often to Communion that you may amend your faults.”
    St. Claude de la Colombiere

    “Since Christ Himself has said, 'This is My Body' who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?”
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem

    “The Blessed Sacrament is indeed the stimulus for us all, for me as it should be for you, to forsake all worldly ambitions.”
    St. Damien of Molokai

    “Holy Communion being the daily bread of a priest, I feel myself happy, well-pleased, and resigned in the rather exceptional circumstances in which it has pleased Divine Providence to put me.”
    St. Damien of Molokai

    “God is everywhere, in the very air I breathe, yes everywhere, but in His Sacrament of the Altar He is as present actually and really as my soul within my body; in His Sacrifice daily offered as really as once offered on the Cross.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “The heart preparing to receive the Holy Eucharist should be like a crystal vase.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “What does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.”
    st. francis of assisi

    “Everyday, Jesus humbles himself just as He did when He came from His heavenly throne into the Virgin’s womb; everyday He comes to us and lets us see Him in abjection, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar.”
    st. francis of assisi

    “The Most Blessed Sacrament is Christ made visible. The poor sick person is Christ again made visible.”
    St. Gerard Majella

    “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him often. Do you want him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.”
    st. john bosco

    “When the Eucharist is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the divine victim immolated on the altar.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but He who was crucified for us, Christ Himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their Power and Grace are God's. This is my body, He says. This word transforms the things offered.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother,… You dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal…. God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Let us return from that Table like lions breathing out fire, terrifying to the devil!”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “When we receive Holy Communion, we experience something extraordinary — a joy, a fragrance, a well-being that thrills the whole body and causes it to exalt.”
    St. John Vianney

    “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us.”
    St. John Vianney

    “When we have been to Holy Communion, the balm of love envelops the soul as the flower envelops the bee.”
    St. John Vianney

    “When we go before the Blessed Sacrament, let us open our heart; our good God will open His. We shall go to Him; He will come to us; the one to ask, the other to receive. It will be like a breath from one to the other.”
    st. john vianney

    “If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man. The miser would run no more after his treasures, or the ambitious after glory; each would shake off the dust of the earth, leave the world, and fly away towards heaven.”
    st. john vianney

    “When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.”
    st. Josemaría Escrivá

    “As by the Word of God, Jesus our Savior was made Flesh and had both Flesh and Blood for our salvation, so also the food which has been blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him is both the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Incarnate.”
    St. Justin

    “Ours is the Spirit of the Eucharist, the total Gift of Self.”
    st. katherine drexel

    “Happy is the soul that knows how to find Jesus in the Eucharist, and in the Eucharist all things!”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “Every time we come into the presence of the Eucharist we may say: This precious Testament cost Jesus Christ His life. For the Eucharist is a testament, a legacy which becomes valid only at the death of the testator. Our Lord thereby shows us His boundless love, for He Himself said there is no greater proof of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “If the love of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament does not win our hearts, Jesus is vanquished! Our ingratitude is greater than His Goodness our malice is more powerful than His Charity.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “Our Redeemer, ever present in the most Blessed Sacrament, extends His hand to everyone. He opens His heart and says, 'Come to Me, all of You.'”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “Look then on Jesus, the author and preserver of faith: in complete sinlessness He suffered, and at the hands of those who were His own, and was numbered among the wicked. As you drink the cup of the Lord Jesus (how glorious it is!), give thanks to the Lord, the giver of all blessings.”
    St. Raymond of Penyafort

    “The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord’s Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion.”
    st. thomas aquinas

  • evangelizationOpen or Close

    “Let us not shrink from entering the public square to proclaim the person of Christ, to teach the values that flow from reason and faith, to uphold our right to go about our daily work in accord with our teachings and values.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “In our own families, in our parishes, where we live and where we work — like that very first apostolic generation — we must be bold witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.”
    Blessed Titus Brandsma

    “We should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “We must carry Jesus in our hearts to wherever He wants to go, and there are many places to which He may never go unless we take Him to them. None of us knows when the loveliest hour of our life is striking. It may be when we take Christ for the first time to that grey office in the city where we work, to the wretched lodging of that poor man who is an outcast, to the nursery of that pampered child, to that battleship, airfield, or camp..”
    Caryll Houselander

    “I believe that we must reach our brother, never toning down our fundamental oppositions, but meeting him when he asks to be met, with a reason for the faith that is in us, as well as with a loving sympathy for them as brothers.”
    dorothy day

    “If we are going to obtain the grace that a homicidal world needs to be converted, we must ourselves live lives of virtue. No ordinary virtue will do. It must be heroic virtue. Could you be more specific? Sure. What virtue do we especially have to practice? The virtue of chastity.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Our principle duty as Christians is to prepare others to live holy lives in today's unholy world.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The story of Jesus is to be proclaimed and celebrated. Some will hear and rejoice, some will remain indifferent, some will become hostile. The story of Jesus will not always be accepted, but it must be told.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “It’s not that we don’t have enough scoundrels to curse; it’s that we don’t have enough good men to curse them.”
    G.K. chesterton

    “Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “I leave from where the apostle arrived.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “We cannot keep to ourselves the words of eternal life given to us in our encounter with Jesus Christ: they are meant for every man and every woman. It is our responsibility to pass on what, by God's grace, we ourselves have received.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “If we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong.”
    Pope Francis

    “We need to avoid the spiritual sickness of a Church that is wrapped up in its own world: when a Church becomes like this, it grows sick. It is true that going out onto the street implies the risk of accidents happening, as they would to any ordinary man or woman. But if the Church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded Church that goes out onto the streets and a sick withdrawn Church, I would definitely choose the first one.”
    Pope Francis

    “The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Think how many blameless lives are brightened by the blazing indiscretions of other people.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “In the morning, at the height of my powers, I sowed the seed in Britain, now in the evening when my blood is growing cold I am still sowing in France, hoping both will grow, by the grace of God, giving some the honey of the holy scriptures, making others drunk on the old wine of ancient learning.”
    St. Alcuin

    “True charity consists in doing good to those who do us evil, and in thus winning them over.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “He who reads much and understands much, receives his fill. He who is full, refreshes others.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “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

    “We've had enough if exhortations to be silent! Cry out with a hundred thousand tongues. I see that the world is rotten because of silence.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “Make your people known for the unity and profession of their faith. Inspire the hearts of your people with your word and your teaching. You called us to preach the Gospel of your Christ and to encourage them to lives and works pleasing to you.”
    St. Cyril

    “The missionaries will have to understand that they are stones hid under the earth, which will perhaps never come to light, but which will become part of the foundations of a vast, new building.”
    St. Daniel Comboni

    “If anyone comes to me, I want to lead them to Him.”
    st. edith stein

    “I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.”
    st. frances cabrini

    “Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians.”
    st. francis xavier

    “I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: 'The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'”
    St. Francis Xavier

    “We (missionaries) begged God to accept our lives and our blood and unite them to His life and His blood for the salvation of these tribes.”
    St. Isaac Jogues

    “It is clear through unlearned men that the cross was persuasive; in fact, it persuaded the whole world.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “What the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “You go to pray; to become a bonfire, a living flame, giving light and heat.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel. This is what Saint Paul says to the Corinthians, 'Clearly you are a letter of Christ which I have delivered, a letter written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh in the heart' (2 Corinthians 3:3). Our heart is the parchment; through my ministry the Holy Spirit is the writer because 'my tongue is nimble as the pen of a skillful scribe'(Psalms 45:2).”
    St. Joseph of Leonessa

    “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is half my life. The other half consists in loving Jesus and winning souls for Him.”
    St. Mary Hermina Grivot

    “Good example is the most efficacious apostolate. You must be as lighted lanterns and shine like brilliant chandeliers among men. By your good example and your words, animate others to know and love God.”
    St. Mary Joseph Rosello

    “Therefore, be constant in practicing every virtue, and especially in imitating the patience of our dear Jesus, for this is the summit of pure love. Live in such a way that all may know that you bear outwardly as well as inwardly the image of Christ crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy. For if a man is united inwardly with the Son of the living God, he also bears his likeness outwardly by his continual practice of heroic goodness, and especially through a patience reinforced by courage, which does not complain either secretly or in public. Conceal yourselves in Jesus crucified, and hope for nothing except that all men be thoroughly converted to his will.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “The trouble is that everyone talks about reforming others and no one thinks about reforming himself.”
    St. Peter of Alcantara

    “I live now in solitude and am able to use my time reflecting on the past and preparing for death. I cannot put away the thought of the Indians and in my ambition I fly to the Rockies.”
    St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

    “To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them.”
    st. thomas aquinas

    “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
    st. thomas aquinas

  • evilOpen or Close

    “Badness cannot succeed even in being bad in the same way in which goodness is good. Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness. Evil is a parasite, not an original thing.”
    c.s. lewis

    “If you want to study the social and political history of modern nations, study hell.”
    Thomas Merton

    “Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “We must not believe the Evil One when he tells us that there is nothing we can do in the face of violence, injustice and sin.”
    Pope Francis

    “The devil is always discovering something novel against the truth.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to allow no evil to exist.”
    St. Augustine

    “Where there is fear of the Lord to guard the gateway, there the enemy can hold for an entry.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him often. Do you want him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.”
    st. john bosco

    “If we have obtained the grace of God, none shall prevail against us, but we shall be stronger than all who oppose us.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ.”
    St. Peter Chrysologus

    “It is not sinners, but the wicked who should despair; it is not the magnitude of one’s crime, but contempt of God that dashes one’s hopes.”
    St. Peter Damian

    “Why is there evil in this world? Listen carefully. There is a mother who is embroidering. Her son sitting on a low stool sees her work, but upside down. He sees the knots of the embroidery; the tangled threads, and says: 'Mother, what are you doing? Your work is not clear?' Then the mother lowers the embroidery frame and shows the right side of her work. Each color is in its place and the variety of threads form a harmonious design. So, we are seeing the reverse side of the embroidery. We are sitting on a low stool.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Satan fears and trembles before humble souls.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “The wicked one, on the watch, carried me off as booty as I lazily slept. He led my mind into error; he plundered my spirit and snatched away The wealth of Thy grace, this arch robber. So raise me up, as I am fallen, and summon me, Saviour, Thou who dost will that all men be saved.”
    St. Romanos the Melodist

    “I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.”
    st. teresa of avila

    “To know whom to avoid is a great means of saving our souls.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.”
    st. thomas aquinas

    “The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.”
    st. vincent de paul

  • faithOpen or Close

    “A church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a Word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, what kind of gospel is that? Preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed do not light up the world.”
    Archbishop Oscar Romero

    “The days in which we live now require heroic Catholicism, not casual Catholicism. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead be Catholics by conviction.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “At Jesus’ birth His mother Mary held her child close to her heart. So, today the Father holds His beloved Son for all people to adore. Jesus is baptized so all Christians may follow Him with confidence.”
    Bishop Maximus of Turin

    “That by the sign of Jesus Christ (devoutly used) a blessing is ensured to us in all things.”
    Bishop Maximus of Turin

    “If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable...we must be content to creep along the ground, and can never soar.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Faith is illuminative, not operative; it does not force obedience, though it increases responsibility; it heightens guilt, but it does not prevent sin. The will is the source of action.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Faith ventures and hazards...counting the costs and delighting in the sacrifice.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Faith is the result of the act of the will, following upon a conviction that to believe is a duty.“
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “With Christians, a poetical view of things is a duty. We are bid to color all things with hues of faith, to see a divine meaning in every event.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Faith answers why, science how.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Faith is a gift, but also, at the same time, an achievement.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Faith also includes the absence, the silence, the shock.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “The Church’s humility, respectfulness and silence might reveal more clearly the face of God in Jesus.”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “Let us be clear: we value religious liberty not only because it protects our personal autonomy. We value religious liberty because of the good which religion brings into the life of the individual believer and into the life of our nation.
    Carl A. Anderson

    “Every great religious renewal in America has led to an advance in civil rights — from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to the end of slavery and the pursuit of racial equality. But all of this has been achieved in the face of established power structures strongly and often violently opposed to these rights..”
    Carl A. Anderson

    “It is the living from day to day, taking no thought for the morrow, seeing Christ in all who come to us, and trying literally to follow the Gospel that resulted in this work.”
    Dorothy Day

    “You have yet many things which you must give up, and unless you resign them entirely to God you will not obtain that which you ask.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Being a Christian is more like having your soul possessed by a spirit than having your mind clothed with new beliefs... It is like being haunted by the Holy Ghost.”
    Peter Kreeft

    “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
    c.s. lewis

    “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
    c.s. lewis

    “Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
    Alexis de Tocqueville

    “Religion does not give (Americans) their taste for freedom. It singularly facilitates their use of it.”
    Alexis de Tocqueville

    “Holiness is not first a matter of doing anything. It is first and foremost a matter of letting it be done. Holiness is to conceive the love of God within and to bring it forth to the world.”
    christopher west

    “Our faith is stronger than death, our philosophy is firmer than flesh, and the spread of the Kingdom of God upon the earth is more sublime and more compelling.”
    dorothy day

    “It is easier to have faith that God will support each House of Hospitality and Farming Commune and supply our needs in the way of food and money to pay bills, than it is to keep a strong, hearty, living faith in each individual around us — to see Christ in him.”
    dorothy day

    “The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion. Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals.”
    j.r.r. tolkien

    “To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live but to 'get along'; we must never just 'get along'.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “God doesn’t ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “God is always faithful in His promises, but He often surprises us in the way He fulfills them.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “An Adult faith does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelties.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Our world is full of contradictions and challenges, but it remains God's creation. The world is wounded by evil, but God loves it still…. There is no room for pessimism in the minds and hearts of those who know their Lord has conquered death and that His Spirt works with might in histor....In the face of the questions that dominant cultures pose to faith and to the Church, we renew our trust in the Lord, certain that even in these contexts the Gospel is the bearer of light and capable of healing every human weakness.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “When Christians refuse to bow down before false gods proposed today, it is not because of an antiquated worldview. Rather, it is because they are free from the constraints of ideology and inspired by such a noble vision of human destiny that they cannot collude with anything that undermines it.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and ‘swept along by every wind of teaching,’ looks like the only attitude acceptable to today’s standards.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “And so if anything is rightly done and rightly decreed by us, if anything is won from the mercy of God by our daily supplications, it is of his work and merits whose power lives and whose authority prevails in His See. For this, dearly-beloved, was gained by that confession, which, inspired in the Apostle's heart by God the Father, transcended all the uncertainty of human opinions, and was endued with the firmness of a rock, which no assaults could shake. For throughout the Church, Peter daily says, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,' and every tongue which confesses the Lord, accepts the instruction his voice conveys. This Faith conquers the devil, and breaks the bonds of his prisoners. It uproots us from this earth and plants us in heaven, and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. For with such solidity is it endued by GOD that the depravity of heretics cannot mar it nor the unbelief of the heathen overcome it.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Your God is ever beside you — indeed, He is even within you.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “If you wish to strengthen your confidence in God still more, often recall the loving way in which He has acted toward you, and how mercifully He has tried to bring you out of your sinful life, to break your attachment to the things of earth and draw you to His love.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “The Church of the Lord is built upon the rock of the apostles among so many dangers in the world; it therefore remains unmoved. The Church's foundation is unshakable and firm against assaults of the raging sea. Waves lash at the Church but do not shatter it. Although the elements of this world constantly beat upon the Church with crashing sounds, the Church possesses the safest harbor of salvation for all in distress.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “Your soul must hold fast to Him, you must follow after Him in your thoughts, you must tread His ways by faith, not in outward show.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “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.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey.”
    st. anthony of padua

    “For myself, I say this to you: The man who burns with the fire of divine love is a son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wherever he goes, he enkindles that flame; he deserves and works with all this strength to inflame all men with the fire of God's love. Nothing deters him: he rejoices in poverty; he labors strenuously; he welcomes hardships; he laughs off false accusations; he rejoices in anguish. He thinks only of how he might follow Jesus Christ and imitate him by his prayers, his labors, his sufferings, and by caring always and only for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”
    St. Anthony Mary Claret

    “What do you possess if you possess not God?”
    St. Augustine

    “Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.”
    St. Augustine

    “Unless you believe, you will not understand.”
    st. augustine

    “Once you begin to believe there is help 'out there,' you will know it to be true.”
    St. Bartholomew

    “When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “Girded with faith and the performance of good works, let us follow in His paths by the guidance of the Gospel.”
    st. benedict of nursia

    “Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.”
    St. Clare of Assisi

    “You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body.... If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace.”
    St. Cyprian of Carthage

    “In order to be an image of God, the spirit must turn to what is eternal, hold it in spirit, keep it in memory, and by loving it, embrace it in the will.”
    st. edith stein

    “We believe in one Catholic and Apostolic Church, and in one Baptism of repentance, and in the resurrection of the dead and the just judgement of souls and bodies, and in the kingdom of heaven, and in eternal life.

    But those who say that there was a time when the Son or the Holy Spirit was not, or was made out of nothing or of another substance or essence, who say the Son of God or the Holy Spirit is liable to change or to becoming different, these people the Catholic and Apostolic Church, your Mother and ours, anathematizes; and again we anathematize those who do not confess the resurrection of the dead, and all heresies which are not consistent with this, the true faith.”
    St. Epiphanius of Salamis

    “God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed he gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit — that is the shortest route.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

    “It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future.”
    St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

    “Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.”
    st. francis de sales

    “I came from God. There is nothing more for me to do here! Send me back to God, from Whom I came!”
    St. Joan of Arc

    “Let us return from that Table like lions breathing out fire, terrifying to the devil!”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Faith is a beam radiating from the face of God.”
    St. John Eudes

    “When you see the storm coming, if you seek safety in that firm refuge which is Mary, there will be no danger of your wavering or going down.”
    st. Josemaría Escrivá

    “It is a lesson we all need — to let alone the things that do not concern us. He has other ways for others to follow Him; all do not go by the same path. It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him, and to follow Him in that path.”
    st. katherine drexel

    “When Scripture says, 'He will reward every man according to his works' (Matthew 16:27), do not imagine that works in themselves merit either hell or the Kingdom. On the contrary, Christ rewards each man according to whether his works are done with faith or without faith in Himself; and He is not a dealer bound by contract, but God our Creator and Redeemer.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

    “Go to Jesus. He loves you and is waiting for you to give you many graces. He is on the altar surrounded by angels adoring and praying. Let them make some room for you and join them in doing what they do.”
    St. Mary Joseph Rosello

    “That which I have set out in Latin is not my words but the words of God and of apostles and prophets, who of course have never lied. He who believes shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be damned. God has spoken.”
    St. Patrick

    “I keep my eyes fixed on Eternity, and from this source I draw constancy in the midst of the confusion of daily life; freedom in my social relations, and joy in spirit.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.”
    St. Rose of Lima

    “Anyone who truly loves God travels securely.”
    st. teresa of avila

    “The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too.”
    st. teresa of avila

    “We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.”
    st. teresa of avila

    “We can’t have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led.”
    st. thomas aquinas

    “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
    st. thomas aquinas

  • familyOpen or Close

    “Connected with our prayer must be the thoughtful and faithful reflection upon the Church's teaching on the respect for all human life and the integrity of the family. In our homes, in our Catholic schools and universities, in parish study groups, and in everyday conversations and discussions with our neighbors, we are called to give an uncompromising witness to the Gospel of Life. Parents, parish priests and institutions of Catholic education must be aware of the constant anti-life and anti-family messages which constantly bombard us and our young people.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “We all suffer for each other, and gain by each other's suffering; for man never stands alone here, though he will stand alone hereafter; but here is he is a social being, and goes forward to his long home as one of a large company.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Brotherly love is a dewy freshness and aridity in the monotony of personal and community life.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “The defense of the family is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Our human dignity is inseperable from the sacredness of life as a gift of the Creator. In God's plan, each person is unique and irreplaceable. A person comes into this world in a family, which is the first focus of humanization, and above all the first school of peace. To build peace, we need to look to the family, supporting it and facilitating its task, and in this way promoting an overall culture of life. The effectiveness of our commitment to peace depends on our understanding of human life. If we want peace, let us defend life!”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.”
    Pope Francis

    “To overcome today's individualistic mentality, a concrete commitment to solidarity and charity is needed, beginning in the family.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

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

    “The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The family is the first essential cell of human society.”
    pope john xxiii

    “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.”
    St. Angela Merici

    “The family is the most ancient institution which God founded in Paradise, when He called the first pair of human beings into existence. The first blessing which God gave was for the wellbeing of the family. With family life, the history of the world commences.”
    St. John Vianney

  • fastingOpen or Close

    “We live in a culture of affluence — food abundance, super supermarkets and fifty foot salad bars. Proverbially stare in the refrigerator and wonder what to eat for minutes as you stand in your so-called suffering and 'hunger pains.' So much yet so picky, you get finicky and forget your blessings.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Through fasting and praying, we allow (Christ) to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “In fact, the external aspects of fasting, though important, do not convey the full measure of the practice. Joined to the practice should be a sincere desire for inner purification, readiness to obey the divine will and thoughtful solidarity with our brothers and sisters, especially the poor.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “When the stomach is full, it is easy to talk of fasting.”
    st. jerome

    “Let the mouth fast from disgraceful and abusive words, because, what gain is there when, on the one hand we avoid eating chicken and fish and, on the other, we chew-up and consume our brothers? He who condemns and blasphemes is as if he has eaten brotherly meat, as if he has bitten into the flesh of his fellow man. It is because of this that Paul frightened us, saying: 'If you chew up and consume one another be careful that you do not annihilate yourselves.'”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works.
    If you see a poor man, take pity on him.
    If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him.

    Do not let only your mouth fast,
    but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands
    and all the members of our bodies.

    Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice.
    Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.
    Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.
    Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip.
    Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.

    For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers?

    May He who came to the world to save sinners, strengthen us to complete the fast with humility! Have mercy on us and save us.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Fasting is a medicine. But medicine, as beneficial as it is, becomes useless because of the inexperience of the user. He has to know the appropriate time that the medicine should be taken and the right amount of medicine and the condition of the body which is to take it, the weather conditions and the season of the year and the appropriate diet of the sick and many other things. If any of these things are overlooked, the medicine will do more harm than good. So, if one who is going to heal the body needs so much accuracy, when we care for the soul and are concerned about healing it from bad thoughts, it is necessary to examine and observe everything with every possible detail.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Fasting is the change of every part of our life, because the sacrifice of the fast is not the abstinence but the distancing from sins. Therefore, whoever limits the fast to the deprivation of food, he is the one who, in reality, abhors and ridicules the fast. Are you fasting? Show me your fast with your works. Which works? If you see someone who is poor, show him mercy. If you see an enemy, reconcile with him. If you see a friend who is becoming successful, do not be jealous of him! If you see a beautiful woman on the street, pass her by.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “If you cannot go without eating all day because of an ailment of the body, beloved one, no logical man will be able to criticize you for that. Besides, we have a Lord who is meek and loving and who does not ask for anything beyond our power. Because He neither requires the abstinence from foods, neither that the fast take place for the simple sake of fasting, neither is its aim that we remain with empty stomachs, but that we fast to offer our entire selves to the dedication of spiritual things, having distanced ourselves from secular things. If we regulated our life with a sober mind and directed all of our interest toward spiritual things, and if we ate as much as we needed to satisfy our necessary needs and offered our entire lives to good works, we would not have any need of the help rendered by the fast.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Conquering the tongue is better than fasting on bread and water!”
    St. John of the Cross

  • fearOpen or Close

    “The worst enemies of religious freedom aren’t 'out there' among the critics who hate Christ or the Gospel or the Church, or all three. The worst enemies are in here, with us — all of us, clergy, religious and lay — when we live our faith with tepidness, cheap compromises, fear, routine, and hypocrisy.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “Depression comes from not having faults but from refusal to face them. There are tens of thousands of persons today suffering from fears which in reality are nothing but the effects of hidden sin. The examination of conscience will cure us of self-deception. It will also cure us of depression!”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Have no fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefore no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

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

    “Oftentimes this fear (of dialogue) stems from the fact that the person doesn’t feel capable of defending or justifying his own reasons, hence he doesn’t want to listen to the other.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “In improving your mind, remember your God. The fear of the Lord, says the wise man, is the beginning of wisdom; without virtue there can be no happiness; and without religion, no virtue; consider yourself as always in the presence of the Almighty.”
    Charles Carroll

    “Most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “Love casts out fear, but we have to get over the fear in order to get close enough to love them.”
    dorothy day

    “I doubt if anyone of any tenderness or imagination can see the hand of a child and not be a little frightened of it. It is awful to think of the essential human energy moving so tiny a thing; it is like imagining that human nature could live in the wing of a butterfly or the leaf of a tree. When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that [God] might feel.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “I'm not afraid to fail…I'm scared to death of dying and having the Lord say to me, 'Angelica, this is what you might have done had you trusted more.”
    Mother Angelica

    “The greatest obstacle in the apostolate of the Church is the timidity or rather the cowardice of the faithful.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “It is a great mistake, as we have already remarked, to be afraid of Him and to act in His presence like a timid and craven slave trembling with fright before his master.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “With such thoughts in your mind, now that you have resolved to love Him and please Him with all your strength, your only fear should be to fear God too much and to place too little confidence in Him.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Where there is fear of the Lord to guard the gateway, there the enemy can hold for an entry.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Marriage is good for those who are afraid to sleep alone at night.”
    st. jerome

    “I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.”
    st. teresa of avila

  • freedomOpen or Close

    “The worst enemies of religious freedom aren’t 'out there' among the critics who hate Christ or the Gospel or the Church, or all three. The worst enemies are in here, with us — all of us, clergy, religious and lay — when we live our faith with tepidness, cheap compromises, fear, routine, and hypocrisy.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “We are recognizing that a culture of life is also a culture of freedom and that a culture of death is a culture of oppression, indeed a dictatorship of relativism…Through (Mary's) intercession, may we be given the wisdom, courage and strength we need to employ our God-given liberty to protect life, to strengthen the family and to continue contributing mightily to the common good of society for the good of our nation, for the up-building of the church and for the salvation of souls.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “We cherish true freedom, not as the license to do whatever we want, but the liberty to do what we ought.”
    cardinal timothy dolan

    “Let us be clear: we value religious liberty not only because it protects our personal autonomy. We value religious liberty because of the good which religion brings into the life of the individual believer and into the life of our nation.
    Carl A. Anderson

    “God grant that religious liberty may be preserved in these (United) states to the end of time, and that all who believe in the religion of Christ may practice the leading principle of charity, the basis of every other virtue.”
    Charles Carroll

    “Most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “Who has a harder fight than he who is striving to overcome himself?”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “God writes the story of our lives with the pen strokes of our own free choices.”
    peter kreeft

    “Feelings come to us, passively; love comes from us, actively, by our free choice.”
    peter kreeft

    “Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
    Alexis de Tocqueville

    “Religion does not give (Americans) their taste for freedom. It singularly facilitates their use of it.”
    Alexis de Tocqueville

    “When some lives, including those of the unborn, are subjected to the personal choices of others, no other value or right will be long guaranteed.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. The challenge that is already with us is the temptation to accept as true freedom what in reality is only a new form of slavery.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “To be a servant of Christ is to be truly free.”
    St. Agatha

    “Nothing but self-will can separate us from God.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “I leave you the spirit of liberty — not that which excludes obedience, for that is the liberty of the flesh; but that which excludes restraint, scruple, and worry.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “In the royal galley of divine Love, there is no galley slave: all rowers are volunteers.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “I loved freedom of heart very much, and worked and am working to achieve it fully. It does the soul so much good that every effort is nothing compared with this free condition of the heart.”
    St. Genoveva Torres Morales

    “Being comes first, and afterwards, being good or evil. However, had God kept from being made those who through His goodness were to have existence but who by their own choice were to become evil, then evil would have prevailed over the goodness of God. Thus, all things which God makes He makes good, but each one becomes good or evil by his own choice.”
    St. John of Damascus

    “Households, cities, countries, and nations have enjoyed great happiness when a single individual has taken heed of the Good and Beautiful. Such people not only liberate themselves; they fill those they meet with a free mind.”
    St. Philo of Alexandria

  • friendsOpen or Close

    “If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart.”
    Cesar Chavez

    “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one!”
    c.s. lewis

    “We all suffer for each other, and gain by each other's suffering; for man never stands alone here, though he will stand alone hereafter; but here is he is a social being, and goes forward to his long home as one of a large company.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “The love of our private friends is the only preparatory exercise for the love of all men.”
    cardinal john henry newman

    “We should ever conduct ourselves towards our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend.”
    cardinal john henry newman

    “Never give advice in a crowd.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don’t accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.”
    st. augustine

    “As for what concerns our relations with our fellow men, the anguish in our neighbor’s soul must break all precept. All that we do is a means to an end, but love is an end in itself, because God is love.”
    st. edith stein

    “The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “Worldly friendship is profuse in honeyed words…while true friendship speaks a simple honest language, lauding nought save the Grace of God, its one only foundation.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “As long as any one has the means of doing good to his neighbours, and does not do so, he shall be reckoned a stranger to the love of the Lord.”
    St. Irenaeus

    “The friendship that can cease has never been real.”
    st. jerome

    “True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks.”
    st. jerome

    “Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous snake. If you keep good companions, I can assure you that you will one day rejoice with the blessed in Heaven; whereas if you keep with those who are bad, you will become bad yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul.”
    st. john bosco

    “Eating and drinking don't make friendships — such friendship even robbers and murderers have. But if we are friends, if we truly care for one another, let's help one another spritually....Let's hinder those things that lead our friends away to hell.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “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

    “We cannot be sure whether we are loving God, although we may have good reason that we are. But we can know quite well whether we are loving our neighbor.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”
    st. teresa of avila

    “What a great favor God does to those He places in the company of good people!”
    st. teresa of avila

    “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

  • genderOpen or Close

    “To legalize marriage between two people of the same sex would enshrine in the law the principle that mothers and fathers are interchangeable or irrelevant, and that marriage is essentially an institution about adults, not children; marriage would mean nothing more than giving adults recognition and benefits in their most significant relationship.”
    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

    “Our bodies have meaning. The conjugal union of a man and a woman is not a factory to produce babies; marriage seeks to create a total community of love, a 'one flesh' union of mind, heart and body that includes a willingness to care for any children their bodily union makes together.”
    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

    “When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “It is almost the definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain”
    cardinal john henry newman

    “We have gone from a world in which women and girls were told they cannot succeed out of the home to a world in which they are told they can't succeed outside of the home without abortion. But women do not need abortion to succeed.”
    Jeanneane Maxon

    “The abortion industry has allowed women to be harmed physically, mentally and socially by telling them to deny their true potential and insisting they choose either work or family, because they'll never succeed at both.”
    Jeanneane Maxon

    “Abortion is a denial of one of those powers which make women women.”
    janet smith

    “A woman who sets her rights, the supposed right to privacy or right over her own body, above the life of another human being is saying that a woman’s rights are superior to human rights. She has put herself above the human race, she has made herself the executor over life and death. Is that a woman’s right?”
    janet smith

    “There is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union; such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The fact that the Church is convinced of not having the right to confer priestly ordination on women is now considered by some as irreconcilable with the European Constitution.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “We must have great respect for these people who also suffer and who want to find their own way of correct living. On the other hand, to create a legal form of a kind of homosexual marriage, in reality, does not help these people.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is more or less strong tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.”
    Pope Francis

    “God has assigned a duty to every man, the dignity of every woman.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “One could say that in case of need, every normal and healthy woman is able to hold a position. And there is no profession which cannot be practiced by a woman.”
    st. edith stein

    “The soul of woman must be expansive and open to all human beings, it must be quiet so that no small weak flame will be extinguished by stormy winds; warm so as not to benumb fragile buds... empty of itself, in order that extraneous life may have room in it; finally, mistress of itself and also of its body, so that the entire person is readily at the disposal of every call.”
    st. edith stein

  • graceOpen or Close

    “If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Grace flows through wounds.”
    christopher west

    “I thank God for His goodness to me. Apart from heaven, this (prison camp) is the one place where I wish to remain. Here we are all equal: Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Latvians and Estonians. Of all these here I am the only priest. I cannot even imagine how it would be here without me. Here I see God, who is the same for us all, regardless of our religious distinctions. Perhaps our churches are different, but the same great and Almighty God rules over us all. When I celebrate the Divine Liturgy, they all join in prayer.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “Through fasting and praying, we allow (Christ) to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “God does not hide behind clouds of impenetrable mystery....He has shown Himself, He talks to us and is with us; He lives with us and guides us in our lives.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day that these words constitute the principle of your entire life and that with the help of divine grace you will observe these solemn vows that today, before God, you formulate.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “When we have spiritual reading at meals, when we have the rosary at night, when we have study groups, forums, when we go out to distribute literature at meetings, or sell it on the street corners, Christ is there with us.”
    dorothy day

    “The Mass gives grace just because the Mass is offered.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Every time we perform a good action we increase the grace in our souls. That's the Divine Justice. And, correspondingly, every good action we perform, deserves from God, and He always rewards, with happiness.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “And in the same way, just as God's justice removes grace from the sinner in the measure of the sin committed, God's justice always sends suffering and pain as a consequence of  sin, so conversely, for the practice of virtue, God always rewards in strict justice every good action we perform with doing what? With giving us grace.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “If we are going to obtain the grace for a world that has become intoxicated with pride and intoxicated with lust, we ourselves must live lives of above average sanctity. By living lives of prayer as we have never done before, by receiving the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist, frequently, and with resounding emphasis, living lives of honest to God chastity.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Lord, my creator, you have protected me since I was in the cradle. You have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Now receive my spirit.”
    St. Agatha

    “Christ made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve.”
    St. Agnes of Rome

    “The Word who became all things for us is close to us, our Lord Jesus Christ who promises to remain with us always. He cries out, saying: 'See, I am with you all the days of this age.' He is himself the shepherd, the high priest, the way and the door, and has become all things at once for us.”
    St. Athanasius the Great

    “You must receive God well; give Him a loving welcome, for then He has to pay us rent.”
    St. Bernadette Soubirous

    “Every grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us.”
    St. Bernardine of Siena

    “Christ lives in every creature.”
    St. Brigid of Kildare

    “Nothing is sweeter than the calm of conscience, nothing safer than purity of soul — yet no one can bestow this on himself because it is properly the gift of God's grace.”
    St. Columbanus

    “But beware of supposing that this is ordinary ointment. For just as the Bread of the Eucharist after the invocation of the Holy Spirit is simple bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no longer plain ointment, nor, so to speak, common, after the invocation. Rather, it is the gracious gift of Christ; and it is made fit for the imparting of His Godhead by the coming of the Holy Spirit. This ointment is symbolically applied to your forehead and to your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the holy and life-creating Spirit.”
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem

    “We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life. We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “God is everywhere, in the very air I breathe, yes everywhere, but in His Sacrament of the Altar He is as present actually and really as my soul within my body; in His Sacrifice daily offered as really as once offered on the Cross.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed he gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit — that is the shortest route.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

    “All true and living devotion presupposes the love of God and indeed it is neither more nor less than a very real love of God, though not always of the same kind; for that Love one while shining on the soul we call grace, which makes us acceptable to His Divine Majesty; when it strengthens us to do well, it is called Charity; but when it attains its fullest perfection, in which it not only leads us to do well, but to act carefully, diligently, and promptly, then it is called Devotion.”
    st. francis de sales

    “Jesus is happy to come with us, as truth is happy to be spoken, as life to be lived, as light to be lit, as love is to be loved, as joy to be given, as peace to be spread.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.”
    st. francis of assisi

    “If we truly think of Christ as our source of holiness, we shall refrain from anything wicked or impure in thought or act and thus show ourselves to be worthy bearers of his name. For the quality of holiness is shown not by what we say but by what we do in life.”
    st. gregory of nyssa

    “To those who wish to stand in God's grace, neither the guardianship of saints nor the defenses of angels are wanting.”
    St. Hilary of Poitiers

    “You are encircled by the arms of the mystery of God.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Do everything as if He were dwelling in us. Thus we shall be His temples and He will be within us as our God — as He actually is.”
    st. ignatius of antioch

    “I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God.”
    st. ignatius of antioch

    “Few souls understand what God would effect in them if they should give themselves entirely into his hands and allow his grace to act.”
    st. ignatius of loyola

    “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will, all I have and all I possess. You gave it all to me; to you, Lord, I return it. It is all yours: do with me entirely as you will. Give me your love and your grace: this is enough for me.”
    st. ignatius of loyola

    “Learning unsupported by grace may get into our ears; it never reaches the heart. But when God's grace touches our innermost minds to bring understanding, his word which has been received by the ear sinks deep into the heart.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “If we have obtained the grace of God, none shall prevail against us, but we shall be stronger than all who oppose us.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Love our Lady. And she will obtain abundant grace to help you conquer in your daily struggle.”
    st. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who not know him. What a great grace it is to know God!”
    St. Josephine Bakhita

    “The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin leads us to realize and adore the omnipotence of God because grace totally vanquished nature in her...The knowledge that God gives us of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin should cause us to glorify him eternally for this masterpiece of his omnipotence in a nature that is purely human.”
    St. Louise de Marillac

    “Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit.”
    St. Lucy

    “Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort me and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”
    st. patrick

    “Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Each of us has a soul, but we forget to value it. We don’t remember that we are creatures made in the image of God. We don’t understand the great secrets hidden inside of us.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “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

    “Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our father's love — difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs — everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness — Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events — to the heart that loves, all is well.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Hence we must say that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural knowledge.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Grace is nothing else but a certain beginning of glory within us.”
    st. thomas aquinas

  • gratitudeOpen or Close

    “Be thankful for the least gift, so shalt thou be meant to receive greater.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Who is there that ever receives a gift and tries to make bargains about it? Let us, then, return thanks for what He has bestowed on us. Who can tell whether, if we had had a larger share of ability or stronger health, we should not have possessed them to our destruction.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.”
    st. augustine

    “We should not accept in silence the benefactions of God, but return thanks for them.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “Take a moment to think of everything you're proud of about yourself and your life. Then ask yourself if you would have any of this without God's permission and aid? Give credit where credit is due; praise and thank Him, not yourself.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “We must never undervalue any person. The workman loves not that his work should be despised in his presence. Now God is present everywhere, and every person is His work.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast vouchsafed to honor me with a perfect love towards Thee, and hast made me to be bound with iron chains, like Thy Apostle Paul.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Whether, therefore, we receive what we ask for, or do not receive it, let us still continue steadfast in prayer. For to fail in obtaining the desires of our heart, when God so wills it, is not worse than to receive it; for we know not as He does, what is profitable to us.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Our good Redeemer, by speedily granting what is asked, draws to His love those who are grateful. But He keeps ungrateful souls praying a long time before Him, hungering and thirsting for what they want, since a badly trained dog rushes off as soon as it is given bread and leaves the giver behind.”
    St. John Climacus

    “Would that I could exhaust myself in acts of thanksgiving and gratitude towards this Divine Heart, for the great favor He shows us, in deigning to accept our help to make Him known, loved and honored; He reserves infinite blessings for all those who devote themselves to this work.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him to the greatest extent of our powers.”
    St. Maximilian Kolbe

    “Give thanks to God, not to me. I am only a vessel of clay, a poor sinner.”
    St. Nicholas of Tolentino

    “If the love of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament does not win our hearts, Jesus is vanquished! Our ingratitude is greater than His Goodness our malice is more powerful than His Charity.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.”
    st. teresa of avila

  • greedOpen or Close

    “Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.”
    G.K. Chesteron

    “Today we amass material things without ever satisfying our greed, and then we madly squander all we have amassed. But a day will come when there will be no orphans, no beggars; everyone will be as one of my own family, everyone will be my brother or sister, and that is when I will have gained everything and everyone!”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
    J.R.R. Tolkien

    “We may describe some of today's average Americans as 'homo consumeris' — 'man-as-consumer.' The fractured thinking: the more you consume the better off you are. When you consume you will be fulfilled.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “I think the world today is upside down. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater development and greater riches and so on. There is much suffering because there is so very little love in homes and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Don't be anxious about what you have, but about what you are!”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “When we hear people talk of riches, honors and amusements of the world, let us remember that all things have an end, and let us then say: 'My God, I wish for You alone and nothing more.'”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “What folly it would be for travellers to think only of acquiring dignities and possessions in the countries through which they had to pass, and then to reduce themselves to the necessity of living miserably in their native lands, where they must remain during their whole lives! And are not they fools who seek after happiness in this world, where they will remain only a few days, and expose themselves to the risk of being unhappy in the next, where they must live for eternity?”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Damned money! Alas! How many religious did it blind! How many cloistered religious did it deceive! Money is the 'droppings of birds' that blinded the eyes of Tobit. (Tob 2:10-12)”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Solicitude for material things distracts the soul and divides it. The devil seizes the divided soul and drags it to hell.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and its exterior is fair to behold; but inside it is hollow. If a man leans on such a reed, it will snap off and pierce his soul.”
    st. anthony of padua

    “What do you possess if you possess not God?”
    St. Augustine

    “Even though you possess plenty, you are still indigent. You abound in temporal possessions, but you need things eternal. You listen to the needs of a human beggar, yet yourself are a beggar of God. What you do with those who beg from you is what God will do with His beggar. You are filled and you are empty. Fill your empty neighbor with your fullness, so that your emptiness may be filled from God's fullness.”
    St. Augustine

    “The measure of charity may be taken from the want of desires. As desires diminish in the soul, charity increases in it; and when it no longer feels any desire, then it possesses perfect charity.”
    St. Augustine

    “Quietly to trust in God is better than trying to safeguard material interests: I learned that by bitter experience.”
    St. Emily de Vialar

    “A man who has embraced poverty offers up prayer that is pure, while a man who loves possessions prays to material images.”
    St. John Climacus

    “If you purify your soul of attachment to and desire for things, you will understand them spiritually. If you deny your appetite for them, you will enjoy their truth, understanding what is certain in them.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “The soul that is attached to anything however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken the bird cannot fly.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Don't you long to shout to those youths who are bustling around you: Fools! Leave those worldly things that shackle the heart — and very often degrade it — leave all that and come with us in search of Love!”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

  • healthOpen or Close

    “It is not particularly difficult to find thousands who will spend two or three hours a day in exercising, but if you ask them to bend their knees to God in five minutes of prayer, they protest that it is too long.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This (illness) is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.”
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe

    “Because medicine is an art, it can touch quality, it can act on dispositions but not on the substance. Certainly there also exists a medicine which only acknowledges and works through quantity: as a matter of fact this is precisely the nature of a medicine which is entirely dependent on modern science, which pays no attention to anything except quantity.”
    Fr. Marie Dominique Philippe

    “Every man has the right to life, to bodily integrity.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “The season of Advent is like springtime in nature, when everything is renewed and so is fresh and healthy. Advent is also meant to do this to us — to refresh us and make us healthy, to be able to receive Christ in whatever form he may come to us.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Remember to care for the soul more than the body, since the former remains, the latter perishes.”
    St. Alcuin

    “Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.”
    st. augustine

    “Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ; discipline your body; do not pamper yourself, but love fasting.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

    “The Law of Christ, which finds its fulfillment in charity, binds us to desire the welfare of people's soul more than that of the body.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Fasting is a medicine. But medicine, as beneficial as it is, becomes useless because of the inexperience of the user. He has to know the appropriate time that the medicine should be taken and the right amount of medicine and the condition of the body which is to take it, the weather conditions and the season of the year and the appropriate diet of the sick and many other things. If any of these things are overlooked, the medicine will do more harm than good. So, if one who is going to heal the body needs so much accuracy, when we care for the soul and are concerned about healing it from bad thoughts, it is necessary to examine and observe everything with every possible detail.”
    St. John Chrysostom

  • heresyOpen or Close

    “Heretical teachers pervert Scripture and try to get into Heaven with a false key, for they have formed their human assemblies later than the Catholic Church. From this previously-existing and most true Church, it is very clear that these later heresies, and others which have come into being since then, are counterfeit and novel inventions.”
    Pope St. Clement

    “A true worshipper is one whose mind has not been defiled with any false belief.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “It is an error to believe that Christ did not teach a determined body of doctrine applicable to all times and to all men, but rather that He inaugurated a religious movement adapted, or to be adapted, to different times and different places.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “The Catholic faith alone produces miracles, which are never seen among heretics. Plants of this sort cannot grow in a soil cursed by God; they can only take root in that Church where the True Faith is professed ... God cannot sanction the performance of a miracle except in favour of the true religion; were He to permit it in support of error, He would deceive us.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Heretics think false things about God and call it their faith.”
    St. Augustine

  • holy trinityOpen or Close

    “Peace is a mark of the Holy Spirit.”
    Peter Kreeft

    “If God is not a Trinity, God is not love. For love requires three things: a lover, a beloved, and a relationship between them.”
    Peter Kreeft

    “God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.”
    c.s. lewis

    “We should speak, then, as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfillment, insofar as he infuses us with his grace, by using our bodily senses in a perfect manner by keeping the commandments. Likewise we shall request that we may be filled with a keen sense of sorrow and with fiery tongues for confessing the faith so our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendor of the saints and to look upon the triune God.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God 'Father' and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “The life of God — precisely because God is triune — does not belong to God alone. God who dwells in inaccessible light and eternal glory comes to us in the face of Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s outreach to the creature, God is said to be essentially relational, ecstatic, fecund, alive as passionate love. Divine life is therefore also our life. The heart of the Christian life is to be united with the God of Jesus Christ by means of communion with one another. The doctrine of the Trinity is, ultimately, therefore a teaching not about the abstract nature of God, nor about God in isolation from everything other than God, but a teaching about God’s life with us and our life with each other.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

    “Rejoicing and eternal praise be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, who sent the Holy Spirit into the hearts of your disciples and increased the boundless love of God in their spirits.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light, and causes me to know your truth. And I know that you are beauty and wisdom itself. The food of angels, you gave yourself to man in the fire of your love.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “The divinely inspired Scriptures affirm that the Word of God was made flesh, that is to say, he was united to a human body endowed with a rational soul. He undertook to help the descendants of Abraham, fashioning a body for himself from a woman and sharing our flesh and blood, to enable us to see in him not only God, but also, by reason of this union, a man like ourselves. It is held, therefore, that there is in Emmanuel two entities, divinity and humanity. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ is nonetheless one, the one true Son, both God and man; not a defied man on the same footing as those who share the divine nature by grace, but true God who for our sake appeared in human form.”
    St. Cyril of Alexandria

    “Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was in the flesh to the Father, and the apostles to Christ and to the Father and to the Spirit, so that there may be unity in flesh and in spirit.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “The Lord did nothing either of himself or through his apostles without his Father, with whom he is united; so too, you should undertake nothing without the bishop and the presbyters [priests].”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Take care, then, to be firmly grounded in the teachings of the Lord and his apostles so that you may prosper in all your doings both in body and in soul, in faith and in love, in the Son, and in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, along with your most worthy bishop and his spiritual crown, your presbyters, and with the deacons, who are men of God.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is (administered) either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Christ, who was called the Son of God before the ages, was manifested in the fulness of time, in order that He might cleanse us through His blood, who were under the power of sin, presenting us as pure sons to His Father, if we yield ourselves obediently to the chastisement of the Spirit. And in the end of time He shall come to do away with all evil, and to reconcile all things, in order that there may be an end of all impurities.”
    St. Irenaeus

    “Come, Holy Spirit. Spirit of truth, you are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food for the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up, you are the one in whom all treasures are contained.”
    St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

    “I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him by glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.”
    St. Polycarp of Smyrna

    “In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man.”
    St. Theophilus of Antioch

  • hopeOpen or Close

    “After all it is those who have a deep and real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life.”
    Evelyn Underhill

    “He is a sane man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head.”
    G.K. Chesteron

    “Hope is the 'little sister' of faith and charity.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Optimism is the expectation that things — the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on — will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.....Let's live with hope.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Hope cannot die. Solidarity was and is the hope of millions of Poles, and that hope is made stronger because it is connected with God in prayer.”
    Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko

    “Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd. Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be servants of unity.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Dear friends, may no adversity paralyze you. Be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. The Lord had allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, His name will continue to resound throughout the world.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Let us never give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day. Do not give in to pessimism and discouragement. We have the firm certainty that the Holy Spirit gives the Church with His mighty breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”
    Pope Francis

    “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

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

    “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The liturgy of Advent...helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “God created shadows to better emphasize the light.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “Nothing makes one feel so strong as a call for help.”
    pope paul vi

    “My hope is in Christ, who strengthens the weakest by His Divine help. I can do all in Him who strengthens me. His Power is infinite, and if I lean on him, it will be mine. His Wisdom is infinite, and if I look to Him for counsel, I shall not be deceived. His Goodness is infinite, and if my trust is stayed in Him, I shall not be abandoned.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “Truly we are passing through disastrous times, when we may well make our own the lamentation of the Prophet: "There is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land" (Hosea 4:1). Yet in the midst of this tide of evil, the Virgin Most Merciful rises before our eyes like a rainbow, as the arbiter of peace between God and man.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “Just as a mother finds pleasure in taking her little child on her lap, there to feed and caress him, in like manner our loving God shows His fondness for His beloved souls who have given themselves entirely to Him and have placed all their hope in His goodness.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all parts. I would like myself to be a rent payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity.”
    St. Brigid of Kildare

    “The Lord has turned all our sunsets into sunrises.”
    st. clement

    “And in every disappointment, great or small, let your heart fly directly to your dear Savior, throwing yourself in those arms for refuge against every pain and sorrow. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future.”
    St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

    “We shall steer safely through every storm so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God.”
    st. francis de sales

    “It is not the actual physical exertion that counts toward a man’s progress, nor the nature of the task, but the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken.”
    St. Francis Xavier

    “There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.”
    St. John Bosco

    “Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to his good pleasure and rest in him.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Christian optimism is not a sugary optimism, nor is it a mere human confidence that everything will turn out all right. It is an optimism that sinks its roots into an awareness of our freedom, and the sure knowledge of the power of grace. It is an optimism that leads us to make demands on ourselves, to struggle to respond at every moment to God's call.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Pray, hope, and don't worry.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

  • humilityOpen or Close

    “The proud man counts his newspaper clippings, the humble man his blessings.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Learn to do thy part and leave the rest to Heaven.”
    cardinal john henry newman

    “I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, But God declared: 'Go down again — I dwell among the people.'"
    cardinal john henry newman

    “If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable...we must be content to creep along the ground, and can never soar.”
    cardinal john henry newman

    “The Church’s humility, respectfulness and silence might reveal more clearly the face of God in Jesus.”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “Don't call me a saint. I don't want to be dismissed so easily.”
    dorothy day

    “Modesty is always beautiful.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “For man proposes, but God disposes.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Without the Way,
    there is no going,
    Without the Truth,
    there is no knowing,
    Without the Life,
    there is no living.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Endeavor to be always patient of the faults and imperfections of others for thou has many faults and imperfections of thine own that require forbearance. If thou are not able to make thyself that which thou wishest, how canst thou expect to mold another in conformity to thy will?”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “On entering a church, or in passing before the altar, kneel down all the way without haste or hurry, putting your heart into what you do, and let your whole attitude say, Thou art the great God. It is an act of humility, an act of truth, and everytime you kneel it will do your soul good.”
    Fr. Romano Guardini

    “Often we are made to believe that self-deprecation is a virtue, called humility. But humility is, in reality, the opposite of self-deprecation. It is the grateful recognition that we are precious in God's eyes and that all we are is pure gift.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Humility is not an exaggeratedly low opinion of yourself. Humility is self-forgetfulness.”
    peter kreeft

    “Man is dust and to dust he shall return, but dust is precious in God's eyes because God created man, destining him to immortality.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd. Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be servants of unity.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. Such attraction fades quickly — it cannot compete in the market of leisure pursuits, incorporating as it increasingly does various forms of religious titillation.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The unworthy successor of Peter who desires to benefit from the immeasurable wealth of Christ feels the great need of your assistance, your prayers, your sacrifice, and he most humbly asks this of you.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Born poor, but of honored and humble people, I am particularly proud to die poor.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “Anybody can be Pope; the proof of this is that I have become one.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “The feelings of my smallness and my nothingness always kept me good company.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “The world calls for and expects from us simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility. Without this mark of holiness, our word will have difficulty in touching the heart of modern man. It risks being vain and sterile.”
    pope paul vi

    “It is the custom of the Roman Church which I unworthily serve with the help of God, to tolerate some things, to turn a blind eye to some, following the spirit of discretion rather than the rigid letter of the law.”
    Pope St. Gregory VII

    “Attribute to God every good that you have received. If you take credit for something that does not belong to you, you will be guilty of theft.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “The spirit of humility is sweeter than honey, and those who nourish themselves with this honey produce sweet fruit.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “He who is the beginning and the end, the ruler of the angels, made Himself obedient to human creatures. The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.”
    st. anthony of padua

    “You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones.”
    St. Augustine

    “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
    St. Augustine

    “This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections.”
    st. augustine

    “Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword; wear humility rather than fine clothes.”
    St. Dominic de Guzman

    “I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.”
    St. Dominic Savio

    “The soul of woman must be expansive and open to all human beings, it must be quiet so that no small weak flame will be extinguished by stormy winds; warm so as not to benumb fragile buds... empty of itself, in order that extraneous life may have room in it; finally, mistress of itself and also of its body, so that the entire person is readily at the disposal of every call.”
    st. edith stein

    “How could I bear a crown of gold when the Lord bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me!”
    St. Elizabeth of Hungary

    “The gate of heaven is very low; only the humble can enter it.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “True humility scarcely ever utters words of humility.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Everyday, Jesus humbles himself just as He did when He came from His heavenly throne into the Virgin’s womb; everyday He comes to us and lets us see Him in abjection, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar.”
    st. francis of assisi

    “Mary's virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God's silence.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was in the flesh to the Father, and the apostles to Christ and to the Father and to the Spirit, so that there may be unity in flesh and in spirit.”
    st. ignatius of antioch

    “We should go to prayer with deep humility and an awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then remain still in God's presence, full of faith that He is more in us than we are in ourselves.”
    St. Jane Frances De Chantal

    “Beauty when unadorned is adorned the most.”
    st. jerome

    “Humility is the only thing that no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt that humility could make angels out of demons.”
    St. John Climacus

    “The Son of Man came for sinners, and we are bound to seek their conversion. I am unfaithful to my vocation because I neglect this, but I confess that I know of no bad person in my hospital except myself alone, who am indeed unworthy to eat the bread of the poor.”
    St. John of God

    “Holy Purity is granted by God when it is asked for with humility.”
    st. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Until we (vowed religious) have acquired genuine prayer, we are like people teaching children to begin to walk.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “But above all preserve peace of heart. This is more valuable than any treasure. In order to preserve it there is nothing more useful than renouncing your own will and substituting for it the will of the divine heart. In this way his will can carry out for us whatever contributes to His glory, and we will be happy to be His subjects and to trust entirely in Him.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “The heavens are not pure in the sight of Him Whom I serve; how then shall I, a sinful man, stand before Him?”
    St. Nicholas of Tolentino

    “Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall.”
    st. patrick

    “Satan fears and trembles before humble souls.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Humility is the virtue that requires the greatest amount of effort.”
    St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

    “It constantly happens that the Lord permits a soul to fall so that it may grow humbler. When it is honest, and realizes what it has done, and returns, it makes ever-increasing progress in our Lord's service.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can, namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Each small task of everyday life is part of the harmony of the universe.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “I am very glad I shall soon go to heaven, but I think of these words of God. 'I carry my reward with me to render to each according to his works,' I tell myself that in my case He will be quite embarrassed. I have no works! He will then be unable to render to me 'according to my works.' Well, He will then render to me according to His own works!”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Concerning God, we cannot grasp what He is, but only what He is not, and how other beings stand in relation to Him.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.”
    st. thomas aquinas

    “Not the goods of the world, but God.
    Not riches, but God.
    Not honors, but God.
    Not distinction, but God.
    Not dignities, but God.
    Not advancement, but God.
    God always and in everything.”
    St. Vincent Pallotti

    “It was His Will that after His death the Church should give us His image in the crucifix, that he might appear to us in a condition of utmost ignominy. And why? He did it because He knew the worth of humility and the danger of the sin which opposes it.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

    “The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

    “However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

    “Humility and charity are the two master-chords: one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them. Therefore it is necessary, above all, to maintain ourselves in these two virtues; for observe well that the preservation of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and the roof.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

  • humorOpen or Close

    “Hearing nuns’ confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Delicate humor is the crowning virtue of the saints.”
    Evelyn Underhill

    “Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.”
    G.K. Chesteron

    “He is a sane man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head.”
    G.K. Chesteron

  • JosephOpen or Close

    “In Joseph there was amiability and the figure of a just man to make the quality of his witness more worthy.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Joseph is a 'protector' because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”
    Pope Francis

    “There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand. This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord, and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying “Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally.”
    St. Bernardine of Siena

  • joyOpen or Close

    “Intelligence is nothing without delight.”
    Paul Claudel

    “You will know your vocation by the joy that it brings you. You will know. You will know when it's right.”
    Dorothy Day

    “On the one hand, we all want to be happy. On the other hand, we all know the things that make us happy. But we don’t do those things. Why? Simple. We are too busy. Too busy doing what? Too busy trying to be happy. This is the paradox of happiness that has bewitched our age.”
    matthew kelly

    “There is one and only one possible road to joy: selfless love.”
    peter kreeft

    “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
    c.s. lewis

    “When ambition ends, happiness begins.”
    Thomas Merton

    “If you do not worship God, you worship something, and nine times out of ten it will be yourself. You have a duty to worship God, not because He will be imperfect and unhappy if you do not, but because you will be imperfect and unhappy.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “I see God in the work of His hands and the marks of His love in every visible thing, and it sometimes happens that I am seized by a supreme joy which is above all other joys.”
    Blessed Titus Brandsma

    “In order to be Christian, our lives must be a continual renunciation and sacrifice. However, we know that the difficulties of this world are nothing compared to the eternal happiness that awaits us, where there will be no limit to our joy, no end to our happiness, and we shall enjoy unimaginable peace. And so, young people, learn from our Lord Jesus Christ the meaning of sacrifice.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “A Catholic cannot help but be happy; sadness should be banished from their souls. Suffering is not sadness, which is the worst disease. This disease is almost always caused by atheism, but the end for which we are created guides us along life's pathway, which may be strewn with thorns, but is not sad. It is happy even through suffering.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. Every one 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.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “People who love each other fully and truly are the happiest people in the world. They may have little, they may have nothing, but they are happy people. Everything depends on how we love one another.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “You'll never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You'll never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “The happiest people on earth are those who do not run away from suffering.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The happiest people on earth, hear it, are the holiest people. The most unhappy are the most sinful.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “While doing penances you may not feel happy and light; but you may be joy-full, which means, accessing a "deeper spiritual river" of contentment in the Holy Sprit, a Grace of God that you are in accord with his Divine Will.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “...Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “The Spirit creates joy, and joy is effusive.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him rejoice.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating joy.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “O, Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Give me then what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete.”
    St. Anselm of Canterbury

    “Why persist in walking difficult and toilsome paths? There is no repose where you are seeking it. Search as you like, it is not where you are looking. You are seeking a happy life in the realm of death, and it will not be found there. How could life be happy where there is no life at all?”
    st. augustine

    “She (the Blessed Mother) could not promise to make me happy in this world, only in the next.”
    St. Bernadette Soubirous

    “Since happiness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest good and since the highest good is above, no one can be happy unless he rises above himself, not by an ascent of the body, but of the heart.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

    “In God alone is there primordial and true delight, and in all our delights it is this delight that we are seeking.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

    “Those who are called to the eremetical life must have a happy soul, for nothing is more destructive than sadness.”
    St. Bruno

    “Rejoice, my dearest brothers, because you are blessed and because of the bountiful hand of God's grace upon you. Rejoice, because you have escaped the various dangers and shipwrecks of the stormy world. Rejoice because you have reached the quiet and safe anchorage of a secret harbor. Many wish to come into this port, and many make great efforts to do so, yet do not achieve it. Indeed many, after reaching it, have been thrust out, since it was not granted them from above.”
    St. Bruno

    “Holy Communion being the daily bread of a priest, I feel myself happy, well-pleased, and resigned in the rather exceptional circumstances in which it has pleased Divine Providence to put me.”
    St. Damien of Molokai

    “Here, we make sanctity consist in always being cheerful.”
    St. Dominic Savio

    “Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.”
    St. Francis de Sales

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

    “You can call happy those who saw Him. But, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will touch Him, you will give to Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.”
    St. John Vianney

    “When we receive Holy Communion, we experience something extraordinary — a joy, a fragrance, a well-being that thrills the whole body and causes it to exalt.”
    St. John Vianney

    “My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ.”
    St. Peter Chrysologus

    “Happy is the soul that knows how to find Jesus in the Eucharist, and in the Eucharist all things!”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “Every step of our life should bring us closer to God, and help to provide at least a little happiness to our neighbor.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “The real happiness in this valley of tears, is doing God's will in everything. Only the person who seeks happiness in this way — avoiding all worry about the difficulties, sorrows and sufferings with which one may be afflicted — will find that happiness.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “For one pain endured with joy, we shall love the good God more forever.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

  • justiceOpen or Close

    “Moral principles do not depend on a majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Life is like a cash register, in that every account, every thought, every deed, like every sale, is registered and recorded.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “The prophets pointed the finger at the abuses of power and the resignation of injustice.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “I deem it my duty to call your attention to the shortness of this life, and the certainty of death, and the dreadful judgment we must all undergo, and on the decision of which a happy or a miserable eternity depends. The impious has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' He would willingly believe there is no God; the passions, the corruptions of his heart would fain persuade him there is none. The stings of conscience betray the emptiness of the delusion; the heavens proclaim the existence of God, and unperverted reason teaches that He must love virtue and hate vice, and reward the one and punish the other.”
    Charles Carroll

    “Ultimately we must understand the need to be agents of change.”
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe

    “The Divine Justice, therefore, has not changed. And when we say justice, let's be sure we are clear. The divine justice applies both to our good actions and to our sinful actions. God is just in rewarding our good actions, always.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “And in the same way, just as God's justice removes grace from the sinner in the measure of the sin committed, God's justice always sends suffering and pain as a consequence of  sin, so conversely, for the practice of virtue, God always rewards in strict justice every good action we perform with doing what? With giving us grace.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The Divine attribute of justice, God's justice, is never disobeyed without consequences.  And let's be clear:  as our faith teaches us, the consequence of every sin is always two-fold.  One effect is what we call guilt.  Guilt, theologically speaking, has nothing to do with an emotional state of mind.  The essence of guilt as the Catholic Church understands it, the essence of guilt is a loss of grace.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “God does not send us to heaven or hell depending on how often we obey or disobey. God is love and only love. In God there is no hatred, desire for revenge, or pleasure in seeing us punished. God wants to forgive, heal, restore, show us endless mercy, and see us come home. But just as the father of the prodigal son let his son make his own decision God gives us the freedom to move away from God's love even at the risk of destroying ourselves.

    Hell is not God's choice. It is ours.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Since all things lie open to His eyes and ears, let us hold Him in awe and rid ourselves of impure desires to do works of evil, so that we may be protected by His mercy from the judgement that is to come. Which of us can escape His mighty hand?”
    Pope St. Clement

    “Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “If you want peace, work for justice.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence, we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”
    Pope St. Gregory VII

    “What grieves me most in my past offenses, O my loving God, is not so much the punishment I have deserved, as the displeasure I have given You, Who are worthy of infinite love.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Punishment is justice for the unjust.”
    St. Augustine

    “An unjust law is no law at all.”
    St. Augustine

    “Let everyone who has the grace of intelligence fear that, because of it, he will be judged more heavily if he is negligent.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “No act is charitable if it is not just.”
    St. Bruno

    “For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray — that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy. And when the Last Day comes, we shall be judged from this, and on this basis we shall receive the eternal verdict.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

    “People can pass thirty nights in dancing and no one complains about it, but if they watch through a single Christmas night they cough and claim their stomach is upset the next morning. Does anyone fail to see that the world is an unjust judge, gracious and well disposed to its own children but harsh and rigorous towards the children of God?”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Let us put into practice the supreme and primary law of God. He sends down rain on just and sinful alike, and causes the sun to rise on all without distinction. To all earth’s creatures he has given the broad earth, the springs, the rivers and the forests. He has given the air to the birds, and the waters to those who live in the water. He has given abundantly to all the basic needs of life, not as a private possession, not restricted by law, not divided by boundaries, but as common to all, amply and in rich measure. His gifts are not deficient in any way, because he wanted to give equality of blessing to equality of worth, and to show the abundance of his generosity.”
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus

    “Christ, who was called the Son of God before the ages, was manifested in the fulness of time, in order that He might cleanse us through His blood, who were under the power of sin, presenting us as pure sons to His Father, if we yield ourselves obediently to the chastisement of the Spirit. And in the end of time He shall come to do away with all evil, and to reconcile all things, in order that there may be an end of all impurities.”
    St. Irenaeus

    “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone”
    St. John of the Cross

    “It was He who died for our sins to give us eternal life. This same man, Christ, is God and abides for ever and ever. Whoever believes in Him will have eternal life; whoever denies Him will have eternal punishment.”
    St. Julius the Veteran

    “No one's body is polluted so as to endanger the soul if it has not pleased the mind. If you were to lift my hand to your idol and so make me offer against my will, I would still be guiltless in the sight of the true God, who judges according to the will and knows all things.”
    St. Lucy

  • kindnessOpen or Close

    “It is almost the definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him... the people who give you their food give you their heart.”
    Cesar Chavez

    “Charity is only as warm as those who administer it.”
    Dorothy Day

    “When we give each other our Christmas presents in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans and all that lives and moves upon them... And to save us from our own foolishness and from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave himself.”
    Sigrid Undset

    “Words of love and affirmation are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Life is precious. Not because it is unchangeable, like a diamond, but because it is vulnerable, like a little bird. To love life means to love its vulnerability, asking for care, attention, guidance, and support.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Anything done for another is done for oneself.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “It is now for the Catholic Church to bend herself to her work with calmness and generosity. It is for you to observe her with renewed and friendly attention.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “Never reach out your hand unless you're willing to extend an arm.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “When we have to reply to anyone who has insulted us, we should be careful to do it always with gentleness. A soft answer extinguishes the fire of wrath.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Just as a mother finds pleasure in taking her little child on her lap, there to feed and caress him, in like manner our loving God shows His fondness for His beloved souls who have given themselves entirely to Him and have placed all their hope in His goodness.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Remember, you have undertaken care of the sick…not tyranny over the healthy.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

    “What is the mark of love for your neighbor? Not to seek what is for your own benefit, but what is for the benefit of the one loved, both in body and in soul.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “There is nothing which edifies others so much as charity and kindness, by which, as by the oil in our lamp, the flame of good example is kept alive.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “No matter how good food is, if poison is mixed with it, it may cause the death of him who eats it. So it is with conversation. A single bad word, an evil action, an unbecoming joke, is often enough to harm one or more young listeners, and may later cause them to lose God's grace.”
    St. John Bosco

    “Beloved, all that is harsh and difficult I want for myself, and all that is gentle and sweet for thee”
    St. John of the Cross

    “If the Lord at the moment of my death reproves me for being too kind to sinners, I will answer, 'My dear Jesus, if it is a fault to be too kind to sinners, it is a fault I learned from you, for you never scolded anyone who came to you seeking mercy.''”
    St. Leonard of Port Maurice

    “Compassion is preferable to cleanliness: with a little bit of soap I can clean my bed, but think of the flood of tears I would require to clean from my soul the stain that harshness against this unfortunate would leave.”
    St. Martin de Porres

    “How kind is our Sacramental Jesus! He welcomes you at any hour of the day or night. His Love never knows rest. He is always most gentle towards you. When you visit Him, He forgets your sins and speaks only of His joy, His tenderness, and His Love. By the reception He gives to you, one would think He has need of you to make Him happy.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “Be kind, for everyone you meet is engaged in a battle.”
    St. Philo of Alexandria

    “I like to find at least a few moments each day spent in doing good for others out of love for God. These few moments, almost unoticeably used, bring something like rays of peace and comfort behind them; they unite us with people and God by a pure feeling of tender sweetness.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “My beloved son, delight of my heart, hope of your posterity, I pray, I command, that at every time and in everything, strengthened by your devotion to me, you may show favor not only to relations and kin, or to the most eminent, be they leaders or rich men or neighbors or fellow-countrymen, but also to foreigners and to all who come to you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest state of happiness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' Be patient with everyone, not only with the powerful, but also with the weak.”
    St. Stephen of Hungary

    “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours, yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth, yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “True charity consists in putting up with all one's neighbor's faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

  • LentOpen or Close

    “Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Never forget that there are only two philosophies to rule your life: the one of the cross, which starts with the fast and ends with the feast. The other of Satan, which starts with the feast and ends with the headache.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or to plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God. Asceticism and mortification are not the ends of a Christian life; they are only the means. The end is charity. Penance merely makes an opening in our ego in which the Light of God can pour. As we deflate ourselves, God fills us. And it is GOD’s arrival that is the important event.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Lenten practices of giving up pleasures are good reminders that the purpose of life is not pleasure. The purpose of life is to attain to perfect life, all truth and undying ecstatic love — which is the definition of God. In pursuing that goal we find happiness. Pleasure is not the purpose of anything; pleasure is a by-product resulting from doing something that is good. One of the best ways to get happiness and pleasure out of life is to ask ourselves, "How can I please God?' and, 'Why am I not better?' It is the pleasure-seeker who is bored, for all pleasures diminish with repetition.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Self-denial is one of the most important aspects of our Religion — and one of the most neglected, rejected, by the modern world. Why is this seen as passé? Because we live in a culture of comfort.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Lent is about a relationship, the most important one, with God and our neighbor.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “When we fast, pray and give alms, give up beer and bubble gum, soap operas or vicious driving, we should rejoice that: 1) we are converting to God; 2) doing charitable works for others; 3) living more sanely and gaining in self mastery.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Catholics believe in both fasting and giving alms, in self-denial which costs something and doing good works for others. It's not a pick or chose proposition, contrary to modern thought.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “If you do anything in Lent, meditate upon, and pray continuously, this passage: 'Lord, lay your healing Hand upon me, for I have sinned.' It intimates the Lord God can and will heal us — but we need to keep asking for His help.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Lent is a retreat that the Church gives us in order to re-focus on what should be first in our lives. The purpose of Jesus' life was to glorify the Father and save the world....Lent is not first a time of giving up but a time to re-choose to be the victim of Christ, the Lamb. It is a time to live the Beatitudes.”
    Fr. Marie Dominique Philippe

    “Doing penance for one's sins is a first step towards obtaining forgiveness and winning eternal salvation. That is the clear and explicit teaching of Christ, and no one can fail to see how justified and how right the Catholic Church has always been in constantly insisting on this. She is the spokesman for her divine Redeemer. No individual Christian can grow in perfection, nor can Christianity gain in vigor, except it be on the basis of penance.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “During the season of Lent which begins today (Ash Wednesday), we renew our commitment to the path of conversion, making more room for God in our lives.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Lent is a favourable time in which to rediscover faith in God as the foundation of our lives and of the Church's life.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Man is dust and to dust he shall return, but dust is precious in God's eyes because God created man, destining him to immortality.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Each year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters. In the Lenten period, the Church makes it her duty to propose some specific tasks that accompany the faithful concretely in this process of interior renewal: these are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Lent stimulates us to let the Word of God penetrate our life and in this way to know the fundamental truth: who we are, where we come from, where we must go, what path we must take in life...”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The observance of Lent is the very badge of Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the cross of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “To experience Holy Week is to enter more and more into God's logic of love and self-giving.”
    Pope Francis

    “In fact, the external aspects of fasting, though important, do not convey the full measure of the practice. Joined to the practice should be a sincere desire for inner purification, readiness to obey the divine will and thoughtful solidarity with our brothers and sisters, especially the poor.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor — He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ; discipline your body; do not pamper yourself, but love fasting.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

    “We ought to fast, and to abstain from all vice, and from all that will lead us into sin, as well as from extravagance and superfluity. We should often visit the churches, and venerate and reverence all ecclesiastics on account of their office, and because they distribute the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ, which they offer in sacrifice, receive themselves, and administer to others. And let everyone know and hold for certain that we cannot be saved except through the sacred Words and the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which priests preach, announce, and distribute, and of which they are the sole ministers.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Lent is the autumn of the spiritual life during which we gather fruit to keep us going for the rest of the year. Enrich yourselves with these treasures, which nobody can take away from you and which cannot be destroyed. I am accustomed to say that we will not spend Lent well unless we are determined to make the most of it. Let us, therefore, spend this Lent as if it were our last, and we will make it well. Listen to the sermons, because holy words are pearls; they are ships of infinite mercy — the true ocean of the East.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “When the stomach is full, it is easy to talk of fasting.”
    st. jerome

    “And though every day a man lives may rightly be a day of repentance, yet is it in these days more becoming, more appropriate, to confess our sins, to fast, and to give alms to the poor; since in these days you may wash clean the sins of the whole year.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Be specific. Don't let your resolutions be like fireworks that sparkle for an instant, only to leave as bitter reality a blackened, useless butt that is disgustedly thrown away.

    Make few resolutions. Make specific resolutions. And fulfill them with the help of God.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

  • lifeOpen or Close

    “Nothing we do to defend the human person, no matter how small, is ever unfruitful or forgotten. Our actions touch other lives and move other hearts in ways we can never fully understand in this world. Don’t ever underestimate the beauty and power of the witness you give in your pro-life work.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “You'll never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You'll never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “Life is precious. Not because it is unchangeable, like a diamond, but because it is vulnerable, like a little bird. To love life means to love its vulnerability, asking for care, attention, guidance, and support.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “The path to the attainment of the common good and to peace is above all that of respect for human life in all its many aspects, beginning with its conception, through its development and up to its natural end. True peacemakers, then, are those who love, defense and promote human life in all its dimensions, personal, communitarian and transcendent. Life in its fullness is the height of peace. Anyone who loves peace cannot tolerate attacks and crimes against life.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Those who insufficiently value human life and, in consequence, support among other things the liberalization of abortion, perhaps do not realize that in this way they are proposing the pursuit of a false peace. The flight from responsibility, which degrades human persons, and even more so the killing of a defenseless and innocent being, will never be able to produce happiness or peace.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Our human dignity is inseperable from the sacredness of life as a gift of the Creator. In God's plan, each person is unique and irreplaceable. A person comes into this world in a family, which is the first focus of humanization, and above all the first school of peace. To build peace, we need to look to the family, supporting it and facilitating its task, and in this way promoting an overall culture of life. The effectiveness of our commitment to peace depends on our understanding of human life. If we want peace, let us defend life!”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The right to life is the first among human rights. To abort a child is to kill someone who cannot defend himself.”
    Pope Francis

    “Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you. No child should be deprived of the right to be born, the right to be fed, the right to go to school.”
    Pope Francis

    “I do not hesitate to proclaim before you and before the world that all human life — from the moment of conception and through all subsequent stages — is sacred, because human life is created in the image and likeness of God.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Our Savior went to the wedding feast to make holy the origins of human life.”
    St. Cyril of Alexandria

    “If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child — I insist on it. Save him.”
    St. Gianna Beretta Molla

    “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.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “The glory of God is man fully alive.”
    St. Irenaeus

    “Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “I keep my eyes fixed on Eternity, and from this source I draw constancy in the midst of the confusion of daily life; freedom in my social relations, and joy in spirit.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “What a pity it is that, through we are on earth simply to prepare for Heaven, we hardly ever speak of it. How we waste our life and our energies!”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity. ”
    Cesar Chavez

    “When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are. ”
    Cesar Chavez

  • liturgyOpen or Close

    “When we arrive late for Mass, we forfeit almost any opportunity to put ourselves into a good frame of mind and heart for the Eucharist. We miss the chance to speak to the Lord in private prayer before Mass begins. We pass up the chance to recollect ourselves and to ask forgiveness for our sins that hinder us from opening our hearts to the redeeming love Jesus wants to share with us in and through the Eucharist.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “Participation in the Eucharistic prayer requires attentive listening to the Word of God. The Mass, after all, is not like a football game with two parts interrupted by a half-time show (the homily). Rather, the Mass is a single act of worship. By listening to the revealed Word of God in Scripture and by reflecting on its meaning for our lives, we are prepared to enter, heart and soul, into Christ's ultimate act of love — his saving death and glorious resurrection. We are prepared to experience, all over again, the depth of His love for us and for the whole Church to whom His loves unites us.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “You can't take a living reality, the worship of God as God has desired that we worship Him, and tamper with it without doing violence and without in some way damaging the faith life of the people.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “We cannot build up the idea of the apostolate of the laity without the foundation of the liturgy.”
    dorothy day

    “The Mass gives grace just because the Mass is offered.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Ask our Lord to inspire all priests to daily offer the Sacrifice of the Mass. If a Mass is not offered, only God knows how many... millions are deprived of the grace they would have received had the Mass been offered.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. Such attraction fades quickly — it cannot compete in the market of leisure pursuits, incorporating as it increasingly does various forms of religious titillation.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “I hope to have communion with the people, that is the most important thing.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Liturgy is like a strong tree whose beauty is derived from the continuous renewal of its leaves, but whose strength comes from the old trunk, with solid roots in the ground.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.”
    St. Augustine

    “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.”
    St. John Vianney

    “All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man.”
    st. john vianney

    “A man who fails to love the Mass fails to love Christ. We must make an effort to 'live' the Mass with calm and serenity, with devotion and affection. And this is why I have always suspected that those who want the Mass to be over with quickly show, with this insensitive attitude, that they have not yet realized what the sacrifice of the altar means.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day. All your duties will be performed the better for it, and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross. The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you can do nothing that can give greater glory to God or be more profitable for your soul than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly. It is the favorite devotion of the saints.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “The celebration of Holy Mass is as valuable as the death of Jesus on the cross.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • loveOpen or Close

    “Love is a mutual self-giving which ends in self-recovery.”
    archbishop fulton sheen

    “Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?”
    archbishop fulton sheen

    “When you and I love God or one another, by virtue of our baptism, we love of the same quality as Christ.”
    Archbishop Allen Vigneron

    “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”
    Dorothy Day

    “To love with understanding and without understanding. To love blindly, and to folly. To see only what is loveable. To think only of these things. To see the best in everyone around, their virtues rather than their faults. To see Christ in them!”
    Dorothy Day

    “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    “Don't worry about finding your soul mate. Find yourself.”
    Jason Evert

    “This is one of the miracles of love: It gives a power of seeing through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted.”
    C.S. Lewis

    “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”
    Thomas Merton

    “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.”
    Thomas Merton

    “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.”
    Thomas Merton

    “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.”
    thomas merton

    “The love of our private friends is the only preparatory exercise for the love of all men.”

    “The love of our private friends is the only preparatory exercise for the love of all men.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Purity prepares the soul for love, and love confirms the soul in purity.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “If the word of God is love, then one who has read and prayed over the word must incarnate love. It must lead to communion, solidarity and dialogue.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “We are in Advent. We remember that a woman held in her arms a child, and that child was God. If we remember that, then we are givers of peace, we are lovers of the Beloved. We own him through love. And he owns us! the most extraordinary thing in the world is that God loves you and me!”
    Catherine de Hueck Doherty

    “Marital love is a reflection of how God loves. It is free, total, faithful and fruitful.”
    Christopher West

    “Marriage is the most basic expression of the vocation to love that all men and women have as persons made in God’s image.”
    Christopher West

    “Marriage is a living sign that truly communicates the love of Christ and the Church.”
    Christopher West

    “The free exchange of consent properly witnessed by the Church establishes the marriage bond. Sexual union consummates it — seals it, completes it, perfects it. Sexual union, then, is where the words of the wedding vows become flesh.”
    Christopher West

    “Love casts out fear, but we have to get over the fear in order to get close enough to love them.”
    dorothy day

    “All things are perceived in the light of charity, and hence under the aspect of beauty; for beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love.”
    Evelyn Underhill

    “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe

    “The greatest joy on earth is to suffer for the one you love, especially for the God whom I love so deeply. And I show Him how much I love Him by following His example. He suffered and died out of love for me, and that is not a pious statement; it’s real.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “To be chosen as the Beloved of God is something radically different. Instead of excluding others, it includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness. It is not a competitive, but a compassionate choice.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “One thing we know for sure about our God: Our God is a God of the living, not of the dead. God is life. God is love. God is beauty. God is goodness. God is truth. God doesn't want us to die. God wants us to live. Our God, who loves us from eternity to eternity, wants to give us life for eternity.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor — He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “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, in a heart so pure, so immaculate, so warm with love for one another.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “People who love each other fully and truly are the happiest people in the world. They may have little, they may have nothing, but they are happy people. Everything depends on how we love one another.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “There is one and only one possible road to joy: selfless love.”
    peter kreeft

    “Feelings come to us, passively; love comes from us, actively, by our free choice.”
    peter kreeft

    “If God is not a Trinity, God is not love. For love requires three things: a lover, a beloved, and a relationship between them.”
    peter kreeft

    “God is not a relentless sovereign who condemns the guilty but a loving Father whom we must love, not for fear of punishment, but for His kindness, His quickness to forgive.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

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

    “The human person is a good towards which the only proper attitude is love.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “He who wishes to love God does not truly love Him if he has not an ardent and constant desire to suffer for His sake.”
    St. Aloysius Gonzaga

    “The heart of man is, so to speak, the paradise of God.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “God is displeased at the diffidence of souls who love Him sincerely and whom He Himself loves.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Job was astonished at seeing Almighty God so intent on doing good to us that He seems to have nothing more at heart than to love us and to induce us to love Him in return.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “If you wish to strengthen your confidence in God still more, often recall the loving way in which He has acted toward you, and how mercifully He has tried to bring you out of your sinful life, to break your attachment to the things of earth and draw you to His love.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “If you are silent, be silent out of love. If you speak, speak out of love.”
    St. Augustine

    “Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.”
    St. Augustine

    “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us to love.”
    St. Augustine

    “Love is sufficient of itself; it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in the practice. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return. The sole purpose of his love is to be loved, int he knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more reasonable, nothing more profitable.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “Love God, serve God; everything is in that.”
    St. Clare of Assisi

    “Look, look on Jesus, poor and crucified, look on this Holy One, who for your love has died, and remember as you contemplate the sacred mysteries, this Jesus whom you gaze upon, loves you most tenderly.”
    St. Clare of Assisi

    “On the question of relating to our fellowman — our neighbor’s spiritual need transcends every commandment. Everything else we do is a means to an end. But love is an end already, since God is love.”
    St. Edith Stein

    “Put your heart at His feet. It is the gift He loves most.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “To love the Church is to love Jesus Christ, and vice versa.”
    St. Eugene de Mazenod

    “An action of small value performed with much love of God is far more excellent than one of a higher virtue, done with less love of God.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Some torment themselves in seeking means to discover the art of loving God, and do not know — poor creatures — that there is no art or means of loving Him but to love those who love Him — that is, to begin to practice those things which are pleasing to Him.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “O my soul, bless Jesus. Never forget the many graces He has given thee. Love that God who so loves thee. Lift thyself up to Him, who has lowered Himself for thee; show thyself as He shows Himself with thee; be clean of heart, be pure. Love thy Jesus, who has lifted thee out of so much misery. Love thy God, bless thy Lord.”
    St. Gemma Galgani

    “Love abounds in all things,
    excels from the depths to beyond the stars,
    is lovingly disposed to all things.
    She has given the king on high
    the kiss of peace.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “Love, which, in concert with Abstinence, established Faith, and which, along with Patience, builds up Chastity, is like the columns that sustain the four corners of a house. For it was that same Love which planted a glorious garden redolent with precious herbs and noble flowers — roses and lilies — which breathed forth a wondrous fragrance, that garden on which the true Solomon was accustomed to feast his eyes.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “May the Holy Spirit enkindle you with the fire of His Love so that you may persevere, unfailingly, in the love of His service. Thus you may merit to become, at last, a living stone in the celestial Jerusalem.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “I place trust in God, my creator, in all things; I love Him with all my heart.”
    St. Joan of Arc

    “The soul who is in love with God is a gentle, humble and patient soul.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “I am definitively loved and whatever happens to me — I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.”
    St. Josephine Bakhita

    “There are three kinds of love: emotional love, rational love, and the supernatural love of faith. In other words, the love that resides in the lower part of man, in his body; the love in the higher part, his reason; and the love in the highest part of man, in the summit of the soul, that is, the intelligence enlightened by faith.”
    St. Louis de Montfort

    “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

    “Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit.”
    St. Lucy

    “The sacred heart of Christ is an inexhaustible fountain and its sole desire is to pour itself out into the hearts of the humble so as to free them and prepare them to lead lives according to his good pleasure.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “The hands should be at work, the heart with God.”
    St. Mary Joseph Rosello

    “Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.”
    St. Rose Philippine Duchesne

    “Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Love consumes us only in the measure of our self-surrender.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God. Do all that you do with love.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love...my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is Love!”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “The things that we love tell us what we are.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “To love God is something greater than to know Him.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “If I speak to thee in friendship's name, thou think'st I speak too coldly, if I mention love's devoted flame, thou say'st I speak too boldly.”
    St. Thomas More

    “Since God is perfect in loving man, man must be perfect in loving his neighbor.”
    St. Vincent Pallotti

  • lustOpen or Close

    “Even among the married, sexual satisfaction must not be sought in a way which disregards man's character as a person and degrades him to the animal level.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “Surrender to sexual desire for its own sake defiles a man in a way that gluttony, for example, can never do. It wounds him to the core of his being, and he becomes in an absolutely different and novel fashion guilty of sin.”
    Dietrich von Hildebrand

    “God, and not a boundless search for ‘pleasure,’ should always be king of the bedroom.”
    Dietrich von Hildebrand

    “The idea that ‘preaching the Gospel’ has nothing to do with sex and that ‘preaching about sex’ has nothing to do with the Gospel betrays layers and layers of seriously misguided thinking. When we divorce God’s love from sexual love, as Pope Benedict says, ‘the essence of Christianity’ becomes ‘decisively cut off from the complex fabric of human life.’ (God is Love 7). The ‘gospel’ then becomes cold, aloof, inhuman. In other words, we’re no longer preaching the real Gospel.”
    christopher west

    “Deep within yourself, listen to your conscience which calls you to be pure...a home is not warmed by the fire of pleasure which burns quickly like a pile of withered grass. Passing encounters are only a caricature of love; they injure hearts and mock God's plan.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Anyone, then, who desires to live chastely in Christ Jesus, must flee not only the mouse of lust, but even from its very scent.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Inordinate love for the flesh is cruelty, because under the appearance of pleasing the body, we kill the soul.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

  • marriageOpen or Close

    “To legalize marriage between two people of the same sex would enshrine in the law the principle that mothers and fathers are interchangeable or irrelevant, and that marriage is essentially an institution about adults, not children; marriage would mean nothing more than giving adults recognition and benefits in their most significant relationship.”
    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

    “Our bodies have meaning. The conjugal union of a man and a woman is not a factory to produce babies; marriage seeks to create a total community of love, a 'one flesh' union of mind, heart and body that includes a willingness to care for any children their bodily union makes together.”
    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

    “When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Even among the married, sexual satisfaction must not be sought in a way which disregards man's character as a person and degrades him to the animal level.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “The love of man and woman, capable of generating life, is a sign that points to God.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Marital love is a reflection of how God loves. It is free, total, faithful and fruitful.”
    christopher west

    “Marriage is the most basic expression of the vocation to love that all men and women have as persons made in God’s image.”
    christopher west

    “Marriage is a living sign that truly communicates the love of Christ and the Church.”
    christopher west

    “The free exchange of consent properly witnessed by the Church establishes the marriage bond. Sexual union consummates it — seals it, completes it, perfects it. Sexual union, then, is where the words of the wedding vows become flesh.”
    christopher west

    “The Church’s basic moral principle regarding reproductive technologies is this: if a given technology assists the marital embrace in achieving its natural end, it can be morally acceptable, even praiseworthy. However, if it replaces the marital embrace as the means by which the child is conceived, it’s not in keeping with God’s design.”
    christopher west

    “What is the purpose and meaning and nature of sexual intercourse? It seems to me to be quite clear. It’s for two things. It’s for babies and it’s for bonding. And that’s what happens when you have sexual intercourse — you have babies and you bond. My view is, if you don’t want to have babies and you don’t want to bond, then you shouldn’t be having sexual intercourse.”
    janet smith

    “There is also a need to acknowledge and promote the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union; such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “We must have great respect for these people who also suffer and who want to find their own way of correct living. On the other hand, to create a legal form of a kind of homosexual marriage, in reality, does not help these people.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day that these words constitute the principle of your entire life and that with the help of divine grace you will observe these solemn vows that today, before God, you formulate.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Our Savior went to the wedding feast to make holy the origins of human life.”
    St. Cyril of Alexandria

    “I want to adorn myself, not out of worldly pride, but for the love of God alone — in a fitting manner, however, so as to give my husband no cause to sin, if something about me were to displease him. Only let him love me in the Lord, with a chaste, marital affection, so that we, in the same way, might hope for the reward of eternal life from him who has sanctified the law of marriage.”
    St. Elizabeth of Hungary

    “Marriage is good for those who are afraid to sleep alone at night.”
    st. jerome

    “Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Their pure and noble love is a sacred thing. As a priest, I bless it with all my heart. Christian tradition has often seen in Christ's presence at the wedding feast at Cana a proof of the value God places on marriage.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

  • martyrsOpen or Close

    “All the martyrs are to be honored by us, but especially those whose relics we possess. They assist us by their prayers; they preserve us as to our bodies in this life, and receive us when we depart hence.”
    Bishop Maximus of Turin

    “I know that the soldier on the front line feels better when he sees the doctor and the priest also there...You know, lads, that I am consecrated, and a bullet doesn't take a consecrated man easily.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “I understand that you are trying to get me released (from a prison camp). But I beg you not to do this. Yesterday they (Nazis) killed fifty people. If I am not here, who will help them to get through these sufferings? They would go on their way to eternity with all their sins and in the depths of unbelief, which would take them to hell. But now they go to death with their heads held aloft, leaving all their sins behind them. And so they pass over to the eternal city.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “The death of martyrs is the seed of Christians.”
    Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko

    “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.”
    Cardinal Francis George

    “Lord, my creator, you have protected me since I was in the cradle. You have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Now receive my spirit.”
    St. Agatha

    “Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, "let us die for the holy laws of our fathers," so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them.”
    St. Boniface

    “Cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by good.”
    St. Boniface

    “As to the treasons which have been laid to my charge, and for which I come here to suffer, I desire you all to bear witness with me that I am thereto altogether innocent. I am a Catholic man and a priest; in that Faith I have lived, and in that Faith do I intend to die. If you esteem my Religion treason, then I am guilty; as for the other treason, I never committed any, God is my judge.”
    St. Edmund Campion

    “And touching our Society, be it known to you that we have made a league — all the Jesuits in the world — cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay upon us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the faith was planted; so it must be restored.”
    St. Edmund Campion

    “In condemning us, you condemn all your own ancestors, all our ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England — the island of saints, and the most devoted child of the See of Peter.”
    St. Edmund Campion

    “You victorious martyrs who endured torments gladly for the sake of the God and Savior, you who have boldness of speech toward the Lord himself, you saints, intercede for us who are timid and sinful men, full of sloth, that the grace of Christ may come upon us, and enlighten the hearts of all of us that so we may love him.”
    St. Ephrem of Syria

    “We (missionaries) begged God to accept our lives and our blood and unite them to His life and His blood for the salvation of these tribes.”
    St. Isaac Jogues

    “To die for Christ, my young friends, is to live.”
    St. Jaime Hilario Barbal

    “God be blessed; I’ll pray for all of you in heaven. What more could I desire than to die for no other crime but that of being a religious and for having made my contribution to the Christian education of children. Dear father and family, I have been judged and condemned to death. I accept the sentence with joy. No charges have been brought against me. I have been condemned to death only because I am a religious. Do not weep for me, I am not worthy of pity. I shall die for God and for my country. Farewell, I shall be waiting for you in heaven.”
    St. Jaime Hilario Barbal

    “I would rather die than do a thing which I know to be a sin or against the will of God.”
    st. joan of arc

    “Please God I will give my life for the holy union, for the supremacy of Peter and of the Holy Father, his successor. Lord, grant me the grace to shed my blood for the unity of the Church and in behalf of obedience to the Holy See.”
    St. Josaphat of Polotsk

    “You people of Vitebsk want to put me to death. You make ambushes for me everywhere, in the streets, on the bridges, on the highways, and in the marketplace. I am here among you as a shepherd and you ought to know that I should be happy to give my life for you. I am ready to die for the holy union, for the supremacy of St. Peter and of his successor the Supreme Pontiff.”
    St. Josaphat of Polotsk

    “Courage, my sons, Don't you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes.”
    St. Maximilian Kolbe

    p>“Like my Master I shall die upon the cross. Like Him, a lance will pierce my heart so that my blood and my love can flow out upon the land and sanctify it to His name.”
    St. Paul Miki

    “The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason that I die. I believe that I am telling the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ's example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”
    St. Paul Miki

    “If all the swords in England were pointed against my head, your threats would not move me. I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace.”
    St. Thomas Becket

  • MaryOpen or Close

    “By his own will Christ was dependent on Mary during Advent: he was absolutely helpless; he could go nowhere but where she chose to take him; he could not speak; her breathing was his breath; his heart beat in the beating of her heart. In the seasons of our Advent — waking, working, eating, sleeping, being — each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world.”
    caryll houselander

    “Advent is the season of the secret, the secret of the growth of Christ, of divine love growing in silence…For nine months, Christ grew in his mother's body. By his own will, she formed him from herself, from the simplicity of her daily life.”
    Caryll Houselander

    “From Mary we learn to surrender to God's will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust when all hope is gone. From Mary we learn to trust her Son and Christ the Son of God.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “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 they 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

    “The Glorious Virgin did not have a stain in her birth because she was sanctified in her mother's womb and safeguarded there by angels.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.”
    St. Augustine

    “O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all your necessities. Call her to your assistance, for such is the divine Will that she should help in every kind of necessity.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “She (the Blessed Mother) could not promise to make me happy in this world, only in the next.”
    St. Bernadette Soubirous

    “I went back each day for fifteen days, and each time, except one Monday and one Friday, the Lady appeared and told me to look for a stream and wash in it and to see that the priests build a chapel there. I must also pray, she said, for the conversion of sinners. I asked her many times what she meant by that, but she only smiled. Finally, with outstretched arms and eyes looking up to heaven, she told me she was the Immaculate Conception.”
    St. Bernadette Soubirous

    “In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; invoking her, you shall never lose heart.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “Eve was a thorn, wounding, bringing death to all; in Mary we see a rose, soothing everybody's hurts, giving the destiny of salvation back to all. Mary was a rose, white for maidenhood, red for love; white in body, red in soul; white in her seeking after virtue, red in treading down vice; white in cleansing her affections, red in mortifying her flesh; white in her love of God, red in compassion for her neighbor.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “Every grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us.”
    St. Bernardine of Siena

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

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

    “There is no sinner in the world, however much at enmity with God, who cannot recover God's grace by recourse to Mary, and by asking her assistance.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “Cling to His most sweet Mother, who carried a Son whom the heavens could not contain; and yet she carried Him in the little enclosure of her holy womb and held Him on her virginal lap.”
    St. Clare of Assisi

    “We glorify God in the masterpiece of His power and love...it is the Son whom we honor in the person of His Mother.”
    St. Eugene de Mazenod

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

    ““Love Mary!… She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity.”
    St. Gabriel Possenti

    “Being obedient she (Mary) became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.”
    St. Irenaeus

    “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

    “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

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

    “When you see the storm coming, if you seek safety in that firm refuge which is Mary, there will be no danger of your wavering or going down.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “When we were little, we kept close to our mother in a dark alley or if dogs barked at us. Now, when we feel temptations of the flesh, we should run to the side of our Mother in Heaven, by realizing how she is to us, and by means of aspirations. She will defend us and lead us to the light.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Mary protected me even before I knew her!”
    St. Josephine Bakhita

    “Mary was seen clothed with the sun that we may know that she is like the sun which, although one, illumines and warms each man as if it had been created by God for him alone, for there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.”
    St. Lawrence of Brindisi

    “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

    “The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin leads us to realize and adore the omnipotence of God because grace totally vanquished nature in her...The knowledge that God gives us of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin should cause us to glorify him eternally for this masterpiece of his omnipotence in a nature that is purely human.”
    St. Louise de Marillac

    “Meditate often on the sorrows of the holy Mother, sorrows inseparable from those of her beloved Son. If you seek the Cross, there you will find the Mother; and where the Mother is, there also is the Son.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

  • mercyOpen or Close

    “On the mercy of my redeemer I rely for salvation and on his merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to his precepts.”
    Charles Carroll

    “God did not come to explain suffering, He came to fill it with His presence.”
    Paul Claudel

    “Compassion is the most important and perhaps the only law of all humanity.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    “I know that the soldier on the front line feels better when he sees the doctor and the priest also there...You know, lads, that I am consecrated, and a bullet doesn't take a consecrated man easily.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “They (prisoners) die in different ways, and I help them to cross over this little bridge into eternity. Is this not a blessing? Isn't this the greatest crown which God could have placed upon my head? It is indeed. I thank God a thousand times a day for sending me here. I do not ask him for anything else. Do not worry, and do not lose faith at what I share. Instead, rejoice with me. Pray for those who created this concentration camp and this system. They are the only ones who need prayers . . May God have mercy upon them.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “As members of the Church, we must have the courage to ask humbly for God’s pardon, as well as for the forgiveness of those who have been wounded: we must remain close to them on their road of suffering, seeking in every possible way to heal and bind up the wounds following the example of the Good Samaritan.”
    Cardinal Marc Ouellet

    “God tenderly gathers all the tears of the suffering and are stored in his chest, as if they were precious stones.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Chaplains and their collaborators are called to be heralds of God's infinite compassion and forgiveness.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “We must show charity towards the sick, who are in greater need of help. Let us take them some small gift if they are poor, or, at least let us go and wait on them and comfort them.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Out of his loving-kindness for us he came to us, and we see this in the way he revealed himself openly to us. Taking pity on mankind's weakness, and moved by our corruption, he could not stand aside and see death have the mastery over us. He did not want creation to perish and his Father's work in fashioning man to be in vain. He therefore took to himself a body, no different from our own, for he did not wish simply to be in a body or only to be seen.”
    St. Athanasius the Great

    “By the command of your only-begotten Son we communicate with the memory of your saints...by whose prayers and supplications have mercy upon us all, and deliver us for the sake of your holy name.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “Rejoice, my dearest brothers, because you are blessed and because of the bountiful hand of God's grace upon you. Rejoice, because you have escaped the various dangers and shipwrecks of the stormy world. Rejoice because you have reached the quiet and safe anchorage of a secret harbor. Many wish to come into this port, and many make great efforts to do so, yet do not achieve it. Indeed many, after reaching it, have been thrust out, since it was not granted them from above.”
    St. Bruno

    “I feel no disgust when I hear the confessions of those near their end, whose wounds are full of maggots...This may give you some idea of my daily work. Picture to yourself a collection of huts with 800 lepers. No doctor; in fact, as there is no cure, there seems no place for a doctor's skill.”
    St. Damien of Molokai

    “For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray — that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy. And when the Last Day comes, we shall be judged from this, and on this basis we shall receive the eternal verdict.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

    “And I understood that the greatest attribute of God is love and mercy. It unites the creature with the Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption (of humanity), and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God’s attributes.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

    “If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Be peace-loving. Peace is a precious treasure to be sought with great zeal. You are well aware that our sins arouse God's anger. You must change your life, therefore, so that God in his mercy will pardon you. What we conceal from men is known to God. Be converted, then, with a sincere heart. Live your life that you may receive the blessing of the Lord. Then the peace of God our Father will be with you always.”
    St. Francis of Paola

    ““Love Mary!… She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity.”
    St. Gabriel Possenti

    “Even if I must suffer greatly, thanks be to God's mercy, I will not lack courage.”
    St. Genoveva Torres Morales

    “The Most Blessed Sacrament is Christ made visible. The poor sick person is Christ again made visible.”
    St. Gerard Majella

    “In confession there is mercy. Believe it firmly, do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “For the Lord is gracious and merciful and prefers the conversion of a sinner rather than his death. Patient and generous in his mercy, he does not give in to human impatience but is willing to wait a long time for our repentance.”
    St. Jerome

    “There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.”
    St. John Bosco

    “God assents more when called on by ourselves than by others; and he often delays the giving, not from the wish that we should be utterly perplexed, nor to send us out with empty hands, but in order that he may become the author of greater good things to us.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “If we look forward to receiving God's mercy, we can never fail to do good so long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor, out of love for God, whatever He has given to us, we shall receive according to His promise a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms He begs us to turn toward Him, to weep for our sins, and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.”
    St. John of God

    “If the Lord at the moment of my death reproves me for being too kind to sinners, I will answer, 'My dear Jesus, if it is a fault to be too kind to sinners, it is a fault I learned from you, for you never scolded anyone who came to you seeking mercy.''”
    St. Leonard of Port Maurice

    “Always turn your eyes from the study of your own sin to the contemplation of God's mercy. Devote much more thought to the grandeur of his love for you than to your unworthiness toward him, to his strength than to your weakness. When you have done this, surrender yourself into God's arms in the hope that he will make you what he requires you to be and that he will bless all you do.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

    “Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His Mercy from us?”
    St. Vincent de Paul

  • mysteryOpen or Close

    “I propose increased opportunities for Eucharistic adoration. Far from detracting from the celebration of the Eucharist and far from privatizing the Eucharist, Eucharistic adoration increases our capacity to believe in the Eucharistic mystery, to participate in its celebration with devotion and joy, and to go forth in charity to serve the needs of others.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “God is constantly revealing himself to us. He whispers to us, he doesn't shout — Advent invites us to listen and discover His grace and mercy.”
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan

    “Of the dogmas and messages preserved in the Church, some we possess from written teaching and others we receive from the tradition of the apostles, handed on to us in mystery. In respect to piety, both are of the same force. No one will contradict any of these, no one, at any rate, who is even moderately versed in matters ecclesiastical. Indeed, were we to try to reject unwritten customs as having no great authority, we would unwittingly injure the gospel in its vitals; or rather, we would reduce the Christian message to a mere term.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “It is like employing a small tool on big constructions, if we use human wisdom in the hunt for knowledge of reality.”
    St. Cyril of Alexandria

    “While the two natures that came into the true union were different, yet He became one Christ, the only begotten son. This is a Mystery that surpasses any discription or explanation.”
    St. Cyril of Alexandria

    “That which nature possesses not, which custom uses not, which eclipses reason, which the mind of man is unable to compass, which makes the heavens tremble, and strikes dumb the earth, which amazes every inhabitant of Heaven, all this was divinely announced by Gabriel to Mary, and was fulfilled in Christ.”
    St. Jerome

    “About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter.”
    St. John of Arc

    “The rosary is said not with the lips alone, muttering Hail Marys one after the other....For a Christian vocal prayer must spring from the heart, so that while the rosary is said, the mind can enter into contemplation of each one of the mysteries.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “When I see the marks of the Passion I shall adore my Lord.”
    St. Martin of Tours

    “Why is there evil in this world? Listen carefully. There is a mother who is embroidering. Her son sitting on a low stool sees her work, but upside down. He sees the knots of the embroidery; the tangled threads, and says: 'Mother, what are you doing? Your work is not clear?' Then the mother lowers the embroidery frame and shows the right side of her work. Each color is in its place and the variety of threads form a harmonious design. So, we are seeing the reverse side of the embroidery. We are sitting on a low stool.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “If God had drawn the world from preexistent matter, what would be so extraordinary in that? A human artisan makes from a given material whatever he wants, while God shows His power by starting from nothing to make all He wants.”
    St. Theophilus of Antioch

  • obedienceOpen or Close

    “For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God's great mercy in time will give way to God's perfect judgment in eternity.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “No Catholic ministry — and yes, Mr. President, for Catholics our schools and hospitals are ministries — can remain faithful to the Lordship of the Risen Christ and to his glorious Gospel of Life if they are forced to pay for abortions.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “For a Catholic to receive Holy Communion and still deny the revelation Christ entrusted to the Church is to try to say two contradictory things at once: ‘I believe the Church offers the saving truth of Jesus, and I reject what the Church teaches.’ In effect, they would contradict themselves. This sort of behavior would result in publicly renouncing one’s integrity and logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury.”
    Archbishop Allen Vigneron

    “As Catholics, we must stop picking and choosing which parts of Catholic social teaching we will accept, and we must insist that our politicians stop doing this as well.”
    Carl A. Anderson

    “I don't need a church to tell me I'm wrong where I already know I'm wrong; I need a Church to tell me I'm wrong where I think I'm right.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “Don't worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth.”
    Dorothy Day

    “We are at Jesus’ disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that’s all right, everything is all right. We must say, 'I belong to you. You can do whatever you like.' And this is our strength. This is the joy of the Lord.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Subtract self and selfishness to add God into your life and soul.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “We are commanded to love God with all our strength, heart, mind and soul and our neighbor in the same way God loves us — it is the same love flowing between God and the soul — the soul and its neighbor. It is difficult, but the burden of the cross is light compared to the cross of uncontrolled emotions, anger, insistence on one’s own opinion, the frustration of trying to change others rather than being changed oneself, resentment, regrets and guilt. Accepting the present moment like Jesus did is certainly a lighter burden.”
    Mother Angelica

    “Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel ultimately means this: To exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one's own need — the need of others and God, the need of his forgiveness and his friendship.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Following Christ’s example, we have to learn to give ourselves completely. Anything else is not enough.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Since the Middle Ages, theology — which developed in a context of generous commitment to 'spiritual combat' for Christ — has not hesitated to highlight the strength given by Confirmation to Christians who are called 'soldiers for God.'”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Our fatherland is paradise, heaven. We have departed from it by pride, disobedience, abuse of the senses, therefore it is needed that we return to it by obedience, contempt of the world, and by taming the desires of the flesh; thus we return to our own country by another road. By forbidden pleasures we have forfeited the joys of paradise, by penance we must regain them.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “To be a servant of Christ is to be truly free.”
    St. Agatha

    “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 they 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

    “It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world.”
    St. Aloysius Gonzaga

    “In the fulfillment of your duties, let your intentions be so pure that you reject from your actions any other motive than the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”
    St. Angela Merici

    “No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God.”
    St. Anselm of Canterbury

    “O, Lord, through your Son you command us, no, you counsel us to ask, and you promise that you will hear us so that our joy may be complete. Give me then what you promise to give through your Truth. You, O God, are faithful; grant that I may receive my request, so that my joy may be complete.”
    St. Anselm of Canterbury

    “Christ acts like a loving mother. To induce us to follow Him, He gives us Himself as an example and promises us a reward in His kingdom.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “The life of the body is the soul; the life of the soul is God.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “He who is the beginning and the end, the ruler of the angels, made Himself obedient to human creatures. The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.”
    st. anthony of padua

    “The Kingdom of Heaven, O man, requires no other price than yourself. The value of it is yourself. Give yourself for it and you shall have it.”
    St. Augustine

    “I went back each day for fifteen days, and each time, except one Monday and one Friday, the Lady appeared and told me to look for a stream and wash in it and to see that the priests build a chapel there. I must also pray, she said, for the conversion of sinners. I asked her many times what she meant by that, but she only smiled. Finally, with outstretched arms and eyes looking up to heaven, she told me she was the Immaculate Conception.”
    St. Bernadette Soubirous

    “Let us trust in Him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For He is all-powerful, and He tells us: 'My yoke is easy, and my burden light.'”
    St. Boniface

    “We must faithfully keep what we have promised. If through human weakness we fail, we must always without delay arise again by means of holy penance, and give our attention to leading a good life and to dying a holy death. May the Father of all mercy, the Son by his holy passion, and the Holy Spirit, source of peace, sweetness and love, fill us with their consolation. Amen.”
    St. Colette of Corbie

    “All we Irish dwelling on the edge of the world are disciples of Saints Peter and Paul and of the disciples who, under the Holy Spirit, wrote the Sacred Canon. We accept nothing outside this evangelical and apostolic teaching. There was no heretic, no Jew, no schismatic, but the Catholic Faith, as first delivered to us by you, the successor of the apostles, is kept unshaken.... We, indeed, are, as I have said, chained to the Chair of Saint Peter; for although Rome is great and known afar, it is great and honored with us only by this Chair.”
    St. Columbanus

    “Only a pure soul can boldly say: 'Thy kingdom come.' One who has heard Paul say, 'Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies,' and has purified himself in action, thought, and word will say to God: 'Thy kingdom come!'”
    St. Cyril of Jerusalem

    “Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a Master who pays well, who rewards even a cup of cold water given for love of Him.”
    St. Dominic Savio

    “In the childhood of the spiritual life, when we have just begun to allow ourselves to be directed by God, we feel his guiding hand quite firmly and surely. But it doesn't always stay that way. Whoever belongs to Christ must go the whole way with him. He must mature to adulthood: He must one day or other walk the way of the cross to Gethsemane and Golgotha.”
    St. Edith Stein

    “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

    “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “My only desire is to accomplish God’s will.”
    St. Emily de Vialare

    “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

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

    “Our entire good consists not only in accepting the truth of God's word, but in persevering in it.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “I will attempt day by day to break my will into pieces. I want to do God's Holy Will, not my own!”
    St. Gabriel Possenti

    “O Jesus, I promise you to submit myself to all that you permit to happen to me; make me only know your will.”
    St. Gianna Beretta Molla

    “For Christ teaches that only those who become again as it were little children, and by the simplicity of that age cut off the inordinate affections of vice, can enter the kingdom of heaven. These follow and obey their father, love their mother; are strangers to covetousness, ill-will, hatred, arrogance, and lying, and are inclined easily to believe what they hear. This disposition of affections opens the way to heaven. We must therefore return to the simplicity of little children, in which we shall bear some resemblance to our Lord's humility..”
    St. Hilary of Poitiers

    “Take care, then, to be firmly grounded in the teachings of the Lord and his apostles so that you may prosper in all your doings both in body and in soul, in faith and in love, in the Son, and in the Father and in the Spirit, in the beginning and in the end, along with your most worthy bishop and his spiritual crown, your presbyters, and with the deacons, who are men of God.”
    st. ignatius of antioch

    “See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is (administered) either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
    st. ignatius of antioch

    “Lord, teach me to be generous.
    Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
    to give and not to count the cost,
    to fight and not to heed the wounds,
    to toil and not to seek for rest,
    to labor and not to ask for reward,
    save that of knowing that I do your will.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “Few souls understand what God would effect in them if they should give themselves entirely into his hands and allow his grace to act.”
    st. ignatius of loyola

    “It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “Being obedient she (Mary) became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.”
    St. Irenaeus

    “My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing His designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to Him, and not to spoil His work by our shortcomings.”
    St. Isaac Jogues

    “Heresy is from the Greek word meaning 'choice'.... But we are not permitted to believe whatever we choose, nor to choose whatever someone else has believed. We have the Apostles of God as authorities, who did not choose what they would believe but faithfully transmitted the teachings of Christ. So, even if an angel from heaven should preach otherwise, he shall be called anathema.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “You must refuse nothing you recognize to be His will.”
    St. Jane Frances De Chantal

    “Turn yourself round like a piece of clay and say to the Lord: I am clay, and you, Lord, the potter. Make of me what you will.”
    St. John of Avila

    “Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desires, and his disposition live and reign there. All our religious exercises should be directed to this end. It is the work which God has given us to do unceasingly.”
    St. John Eudes

    “I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in serving the world and its pleasures.”
    St. John Vianney

    “I turn to you, dear parents, and implore you to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth.”
    St. John Vianney

    “I wish I could lose myself and never find myself except in God!”
    st. john vianney

    “Jesus suffers to carry out the will of the Father. And you, who also want to carry out the most holy Will of God, following the steps of the Master, can you complain if you meet suffering on your way?”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “To obey the commandments of our Savior Jesus Christ is worthy neither of blame nor of condemnation.”
    St. Justin

    “Let us attach ourselves to God alone, and turn our eyes and our hopes to Him.”
    St. Madeline Sophie Barat

    “I abandon myself with my whole heart to God's will, and to God's good pleasure — and when I have in all sincerity made this act of self-surrender, I experience great tranquility and perfect peace.”
    St. Marie-Victoire Couderc

    “To surrender oneself is more than to devote oneself, more than to give oneself, it is even something more than to abandon oneself to God. In a word, to surrender oneself is to die to everything and to self, to be no longer concerned with self except to keep it continually turned toward God.”
    St. Marie-Victoire Couderc

    “Let us all resign ourselves into His hands, and pray that in all things He may guide us to do His Holy Will ... When thoughts of this or that come I turn to Him and say: "Only what you will, my God. Use me as You will.”
    St. Mary MacKillop

    “A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.”
    St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

    “To do the will of God man must despise his own: the more he dies to himself, the more he will live to God.”
    St. Peter Claver

    “To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be detached from all temporal love. We must love nothing but Him, or if we love anything else, we must love it only for His sake.”
    St. Peter Claver

    “Let us detach ourselves in spirit from all that we see and cling to that which we believe. This is the cross which we must imprint on all our daily actions and behavior.”
    St. Peter Damian

    “Keep close to the Catholic Church at all times, for the Church alone can give you true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, in the Blessed Sacrament.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Stand fast, therefore, in this conduct and follow the example of the Lord, 'firm and unchangeable in faith, lovers of the brotherhood, loving each other, united in truth,' helping each other with the mildness of the Lord, despising no man.”
    St. Polycarp of Smyrna

    “Every step of our life should bring us closer to God, and help to provide at least a little happiness to our neighbor.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “The real happiness in this valley of tears, is doing God's will in everything. Only the person who seeks happiness in this way — avoiding all worry about the difficulties, sorrows and sufferings with which one may be afflicted — will find that happiness.”
    St. Raphael Kalinowski

    “If I should say anything that is not in conformity with what is held by the Holy Roman Catholic Church, it will be through ignorance and not through malice.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in God's presence, always ready to give Him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from Him by consenting to sin.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Comfort in tribulation can be secured only on the sure ground of faith holding as true the words of Scripture and the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
    St. Thomas More

  • parentsOpen or Close

    “The Church’s basic moral principle regarding reproductive technologies is this: if a given technology assists the marital embrace in achieving its natural end, it can be morally acceptable, even praiseworthy. However, if it replaces the marital embrace as the means by which the child is conceived, it’s not in keeping with God’s design.”
    christopher west

    “Every mother is like Moses. She does not enter the promised land. She prepares a world she will not see.”
    pope paul vi

    “The words of those who bring up children will be as milk if they be good, but as deadly poison if they be evil.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “I turn to you, dear parents, and implore you to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be His servant. So what am I doing here?”
    St. Monica

  • patienceOpen or Close

    “If we think of the Eucharist as the banquet of Christ's sacrifice, people who leave early choose not to linger with their 'host' and fellow guests. Instead, they rush back into the rough and tumble daily life with little or no opportunity to adore the one whom they have received, the one whose Spirit unites us to the Father and to one another.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.”
    cardinal john henry newman

    “Holiness is not first a matter of doing anything. It is first and foremost a matter of letting it be done. Holiness is to conceive the love of God within and to bring it forth to the world.”
    christopher west

    “As for ourselves, yes, we must be meek, bear injustice, malice, rash judgment. We must turn the other cheek, give up our cloak, go a second mile.”
    dorothy day

    “Endeavor to be always patient of the faults and imperfections of others for thou has many faults and imperfections of thine own that require forbearance. If thou are not able to make thyself that which thou wishest, how canst thou expect to mold another in conformity to thy will?”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “If we really want prayer, we'll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we'll begin to have time to listen. And as soon as we listen to what's going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves....The best way to pray is: Stop. Let prayer pray within you, whether you know it or not.”
    Thomas Merton

    “Truth is power, but only when one has patience and requires of it no immediate effect. And one must have no specific aims. Somehow, lack of an agenda is the greatest power. Sometimes it is better not to think in terms of plans; here months may mean nothing, and also years. Truth must be sought for its own sake, its holy, divine greatness.”
    Fr. Romano Guardini

    “Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus is not an empty waiting. It is a waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for...

    Waiting for God is an active, alert — yes, joyful — waiting.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “The word patience comes from the Latin verb 'patior' which means 'to suffer'. Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grow into strong plants.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Peace is not just the absence of war. Like a cathedral, peace must be constructed patiently and with unshakable faith.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “He who would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not leaps.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “In youth the days are short and the years are long. In old age the years are short and day's long.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
    St. Augustine

    “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Haste is of the Devil.”
    St. Jerome

    “For the Lord is gracious and merciful and prefers the conversion of a sinner rather than his death. Patient and generous in his mercy, he does not give in to human impatience but is willing to wait a long time for our repentance.”
    St. Jerome

    “It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the boys. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.”
    St. John Bosco

    “We should not bear it with bad grace if the answer to our prayer is long delayed. Rather, let us, because of this, show great patience and resignation. For He delays for this reason: that we may offer Him a fitting occasion of honoring us through His divine providence.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Therefore, be constant in practicing every virtue, and especially in imitating the patience of our dear Jesus, for this is the summit of pure love. Live in such a way that all may know that you bear outwardly as well as inwardly the image of Christ crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy. For if a man is united inwardly with the Son of the living God, he also bears his likeness outwardly by his continual practice of heroic goodness, and especially through a patience reinforced by courage, which does not complain either secretly or in public. Conceal yourselves in Jesus crucified, and hope for nothing except that all men be thoroughly converted to his will.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All thing pass; God never changes. Patience attains all that it strives for. He who has God finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices.”
    st. teresa of avila

  • patriotismOpen or Close

    “Patriotism is a virtue. And the highest responsibility of love of country is to vote.”
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan

    “Pervading nationalism imposes its dominion on man today in many different forms and with an aggressiveness that spares no one. The challenge that is already with us is the temptation to accept as true freedom what in reality is only a new form of slavery.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly mother. I consider it my duty to be with my compatriots in this sublime and difficult moment.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.”
    st. edith stein

  • peaceOpen or Close

    “Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is duty.”
    Archbishop Oscar Romero

    In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.”
    Cesar Chavez

    “We must never allow September 11th to become a time for protest and division. Instead, this day must remain a time for promoting peace and mutual respect.”
    cardinal timothy dolan

    “First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Peace is a mark of the Holy Spirit.”
    peter kreeft

    “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
    c.s. lewis

    “We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.”
    Thomas Merton

    “Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.”
    Thomas Merton

    “May peace reign in your soul... any other gift we possess in this life is vanity, just as all the things of this world are vain.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “Peace is not just the absence of war. Like a cathedral, peace must be constructed patiently and with unshakable faith.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “The path to the attainment of the common good and to peace is above all that of respect for human life in all its many aspects, beginning with its conception, through its development and up to its natural end. True peacemakers, then, are those who love, defense and promote human life in all its dimensions, personal, communitarian and transcendent. Life in its fullness is the height of peace. Anyone who loves peace cannot tolerate attacks and crimes against life.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Our human dignity is inseperable from the sacredness of life as a gift of the Creator. In God's plan, each person is unique and irreplaceable. A person comes into this world in a family, which is the first focus of humanization, and above all the first school of peace. To build peace, we need to look to the family, supporting it and facilitating its task, and in this way promoting an overall culture of life. The effectiveness of our commitment to peace depends on our understanding of human life. If we want peace, let us defend life!”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “But there is no true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth.”
    Pope Francis

    “A peaceful man does more good than a learned one.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality of arms, but in mutual trust alone.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “If you want peace, work for justice.”
    pope paul vi

    “No one heals himself by wounding another.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “Cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by good.”
    St. Boniface

    “The world would have peace if only men of politics would follow the Gospels.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “Nothing is sweeter than the calm of conscience, nothing safer than purity of soul — yet no one can bestow this on himself because it is properly the gift of God's grace.”
    St. Columbanus

    “You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body.... If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace.”
    St. Cyprian of Carthage

    “Be peace-loving. Peace is a precious treasure to be sought with great zeal. You are well aware that our sins arouse God's anger. You must change your life, therefore, so that God in his mercy will pardon you. What we conceal from men is known to God. Be converted, then, with a sincere heart. Live your life that you may receive the blessing of the Lord. Then the peace of God our Father will be with you always.”
    St. Francis of Paola

    “Do you ask how to resist anger? As soon as you feel the slightest resentment, gather together your powers, not hastily or impetuously, but gently and seriously. For as in some law courts, the criers make more noise in their efforts to preserve quiet than those they seek to still, so, if we are impetuous in our attempts to restrain our anger, we cause greater discomposure in our hearts than before; and once thrown off its balance, the heart is no longer its own master.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Do everything calmly and peacefully. Do as much as you can as well as you can. Strive to see God in all things without exception, and consent to His will joyously. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to him in word and deed. Walk very simply with the Cross of the Lord and be at peace with yourself.”
    st. francis de sales

    “Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?”
    St. Gerard Majella

    “Peace is defined as harmony among those who are divided. When, therefore, we end the civil war within our nature and cultivate peace within ourselves, we become at peace.”
    st. gregory of nyssa

    “Love abounds in all things,
    excels from the depths to beyond the stars,
    is lovingly disposed to all things.
    She has given the king on high
    the kiss of peace.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “Abide in peace, banish cares, take no account of all that happens, and you will serve God according to his good pleasure and rest in him.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “But above all preserve peace of heart. This is more valuable than any treasure. In order to preserve it there is nothing more useful than renouncing your own will and substituting for it the will of the divine heart. In this way his will can carry out for us whatever contributes to His glory, and we will be happy to be His subjects and to trust entirely in Him.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “Keep close to the Catholic Church at all times, for the Church alone can give you true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, in the Blessed Sacrament.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “May the God of love and peace set your hearts at rest and speed you on your journey; may he meanwhile shelter you from disturbance by others in the hidden recesses of his love, until he brings you at last into that place of complete plenitude where you will repose for ever in the vision of peace, in the security of trust, and in the restful enjoyment of his riches.”
    St. Raymond of Penyafort

  • penanceOpen or Close

    “Our Holy Mother Church calls this Season before Easter a 'penitential season.' One of the main messages of Our Lady of Lourdes was: 'Penance, penance, penance.' This means: we must try to make up for our sins. With every sin there is a punishment as part of justice (break a window, fix it; sin, do penance); and not everyone has fulfilled this (including possibly ourselves!). So: it is a heroic act of mercy; love and wisdom to help the world to help atone for its sins.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “While doing penances you may not feel happy and light; but you may be joy-full, which means, accessing a "deeper spiritual river" of contentment in the Holy Sprit, a Grace of God that you are in accord with his Divine Will.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Catholics believe in both fasting and giving alms, in self-denial which costs something and doing good works for others. It's not a pick or chose proposition, contrary to modern thought.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Do penance for all sinners and liberate by your loving actions.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Remember: good fruits are the result of penance. Because a certain ascetical practice helps us, it should help benefit and balance our relationship to God and neighbor.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Doing penance for one's sins is a first step towards obtaining forgiveness and winning eternal salvation. That is the clear and explicit teaching of Christ, and no one can fail to see how justified and how right the Catholic Church has always been in constantly insisting on this. She is the spokesman for her divine Redeemer. No individual Christian can grow in perfection, nor can Christianity gain in vigor, except it be on the basis of penance.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “The tears of the penitents are wine for the angels.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

  • politicsOpen or Close

    “The American experience of personal freedom and civil peace would be inconceivable without a religious grounding and a predominantly Christian inspiration. The reason is simple. What we believe about God shapes what we believe about man. And what we believe about man shapes what we believe about the purpose and proper structure of human society. So it should surprise no one the at the heart of American life is a Christian-informed tradition of what it means to be human.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “When it comes to politics, economics and social policy, the main duty of a bishop is to preach basic principles. Sometimes, on some pivotal issues, bishops need to be more engaged in the details of legislation. But, overall, Catholic witness in the secular world should be the work of prudent, faithful laypeople.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “Access to inexpensive contraception is a problem nowhere in the United States. The (HHS) mandate is thus an ideological statement; the imposition of a preferential option for infertility. And if millions of Americans disagree with it on principle — too bad.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “There’s a special lesson in our current situation. Anyone who thinks that our country’s neuralgic sexuality issues can somehow be worked out respectfully in the public square in the years ahead, without a parallel and vigorous defense of religious freedom, had better think again.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “We are living through difficult days because the persecution against the Church is raging more than ever, but this should not frighten you, brave and good young people. Always remember that the Church is a divine institution and it cannot come to an end.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “For those who hope for salvation, no political loyalty can ever take precedence over loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of Life. God is not mocked, and as the Bible clearly teaches, after this passing instant of life on earth, God's great mercy in time will give way to God's perfect judgment in eternity.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “As Catholics, we must stop picking and choosing which parts of Catholic social teaching we will accept, and we must insist that our politicians stop doing this as well.”
    Carl A. Anderson

    “Every great religious renewal in America has led to an advance in civil rights — from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to the end of slavery and the pursuit of racial equality.
    But all of this has been achieved in the face of established power structures strongly and often violently opposed to these rights..”
    Carl A. Anderson

    “If you want to study the social and political history of modern nations, study hell.”
    Thomas Merton

    “You may be surprised to learn that, in our law, although the fetus is currently without the right to life, it does have some rights. For instance, under civil law, the unborn child has the right to inherit part of his father’s estate should his father die before he is born, and he has the right to sue his mother, or a doctor, for injuiries sustained while in the womb.”
    janet smith

    “To those who are now promising to fix all your problems, I say, ‘Go and fix yourself.’...Have a change of heart. Get to confession, before you need it even more! The current crisis will not be improved by magicians from outside the country and nor will (improvement) come from the golden mouth of our politicians, so accustomed to making incredible promises.”
    Pope Francis

    “Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “The historical experience of socialist countries has sadly demonstrated that collectivism does not do away with alienation but rather increases it, adding to it a lack of basic necessities and economic inefficiency.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “You are priests, not social or political leaders. Let us not be under the illusion that we are serving the Gospel through an exaggerated interest in the wide field of temporal problems.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “The legal battle against segregation is won, but the community battle goes on.”
    dorothy day

    “The world would have peace if only men of politics would follow the Gospels.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

  • prayerOpen or Close

    “Prayer is like a great love. When you start dating the silence can be awkward, but as you grow to know each other you can sit in silence for hours and just being with each other is a great comfort.”
    matthew kelly

    “Set aside an opportune time for deep personal reflection, and think often about God's many benefits to you. Give up all light and frivolous matters, and read what inspires you to repentance of soul and not just what entertains the mind.

    If you abstain from unnecessary conversation and useless visiting, as well as from listening to idle news and gossip, you will find sufficient and suitable time for your meditations. The great saints avoided the company of men as much as they could, because they wanted to live for God in silence. ”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Lack of prayer is the cause of lack of time.”
    peter kreeft

    “I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers to God make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those effects down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.”
    peter kreeft

    “If we really want prayer, we'll have to give it time. We must slow down to a human tempo and we'll begin to have time to listen. And as soon as we listen to what's going on, things will begin to take shape by themselves....The best way to pray is: Stop. Let prayer pray within you, whether you know it or not.”
    Thomas Merton

    “It is not particularly difficult to find thousands who will spend two or three hours a day in exercising, but if you ask them to bend their knees to God in five minutes of prayer, they protest that it is too long.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Why do you have to pray? Why do you have to breathe? Because otherwise I'd die.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Prayer is not mere emotion, it must involve reason and will, thought and passion, truth and action.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “The Holy Eucharist is our most powerful prayer.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “We are so accustomed to praying at the Sacrifice of the Mass, praying when we receive Holy Communion, and praying before the Blessed Sacrament, that we are liable to forget, and what a lapse of memory this would be, that before, long before, we attach prayer to the Eucharist, we should identify the Holy Eucharist as prayer. It is, and not just the indefinite article 'A' prayer, it is 'THE' prayer. In fact, the most powerful source of grace we have on earth.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The most potent prayer before God is the prayer of action.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Hope cannot die. Solidarity was and is the hope of millions of Poles, and that hope is made stronger because it is connected with God in prayer.”
    Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko

    “We are no longer able to hear God — there are too many frequencies filling our ears.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. We must always remember this. The actual words matter less.”
    Pope John XXIII

    “Nothing makes one feel so strong as a call for help.”
    pope paul vi

    “Of all human activities, man's listening to God is the supreme act of his reasoning and will.”
    pope paul vi

    “He who prays is saved; and he who does not pray is damned.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Speak to Him often of your business, your plans, your troubles, your fears — of everything that concerns you.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Since His delights are to be with you, let yours be found in Him.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Ask those who love Him with a sincere love, and they will tell you that they find no greater or prompter relief amid the troubles of their life than in loving conversation with their Divine Friend.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “To sing is to pray twice.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
    St. Augustine

    “O sinner, be not discouraged, but have recourse to Mary in all your necessities. Call her to your assistance, for such is the divine Will that she should help in every kind of necessity.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “Prayer ought to be short and pure, unless it be prolonged by the inspiration of Divine grace.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

    “He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

    “Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

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

    “When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard more than the proceedings from the mouth.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregior

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

    “Rejoicing and eternal praise be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, who sent the Holy Spirit into the hearts of your disciples and increased the boundless love of God in their spirits.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all parts. I would like myself to be a rent payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity.”
    st. brigid of kildare

    “We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: "I will pray, and then I will understand."

    This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which, after all, are part of our work. In meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men.”
    St. Charles Borromeo

    “Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword; wear humility rather than fine clothes.”
    St. Dominic de Guzman

    “My longing for truth was a single prayer.”
    st. edith stein

    “Every true prayer is a prayer of the Church; by means of that prayer the Church prays, since it is the Holy Spirit living in the Church, Who in every single soul ‘prays in us with unspeakable groanings.’”
    st. edith stein

    “We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “Virtues are formed by prayer.
    Prayer preserves temperance.
    Prayer suppresses anger.
    Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy.
    Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven.”
    St. Ephrem of Syria

    “We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.”
    st. frances cabrini

    “God accepts our desires as though they were of great value. He longs ardently for us to desire and love him. He accepts our petitions for benefits as though we were doing him a favor. His joy in giving is greater than ours in receiving. So let us not be apathetic in our asking, nor set too narrow bounds to our requests; nor ask for frivolous things unworthy of God's greatness.”
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus

    “Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “There is no danger if our prayer is without words or reflection because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. It depends upon the simple raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of feeling it is, the surer it is.”
    St. Jane Frances de Chantal

    “We should go to prayer with deep humility and an awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then remain still in God's presence, full of faith that He is more in us than we are in ourselves.”
    St. Jane Frances De Chantal

    “We should have frequent recourse to prayer, and persevere a long time in it. God wishes to be solicited. He is not weary of hearing us. The treasure of His graces is infinite. We can do nothing more pleasing to him than to beg incessantly that He bestow them upon us.”
    St. John Baptist de La Salle

    “In serious matters it is better to beg God humbly than to send forth a flood of words that will only offend the listeners and have no effect on those who are guilty.”
    St. John Bosco

    “Whether, therefore, we receive what we ask for, or do not receive it, let us still continue steadfast in prayer. For to fail in obtaining the desires of our heart, when God so wills it, is not worse than to receive it; for we know not as He does, what is profitable to us.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “We should not bear it with bad grace if the answer to our prayer is long delayed. Rather, let us, because of this, show great patience and resignation. For He delays for this reason: that we may offer Him a fitting occasion of honoring us through His divine providence.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “In tribulation immediately draw near to God with confidence, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “He who interrupts the course of his spiritual exercises and prayer is like a man who allows a bird to escape from his hand; he can hardly catch it again.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “To saints, their very slumber is a prayer.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Prayer is nothing else but union with God. In this intimate union, God and the soul are fused together like two bits of wax that no one can ever pull apart. This union of God with a tiny creature is a lovely thing. It is a happiness beyond understanding.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil. Fertilize the soil ever so richly, it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains.”
    St. John Vianney

    “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

    “My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.”
    St. John Vianney

    “The rosary is said not with the lips alone, muttering Hail Marys one after the other....For a Christian vocal prayer must spring from the heart, so that while the rosary is said, the mind can enter into contemplation of each one of the mysteries.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “You go to pray; to become a bonfire, a living flame, giving light and heat.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Holy Purity is granted by God when it is asked for with humility.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “You always leave the Rosary for later, and you end up not saying it at all because you are sleepy. If there is no other time, say it in the street without letting anybody notice it. It will, moreover, help you to have presence of God.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “The Our Father contains all the duties we owe to God, the acts of all the virtues and the petitions for all our spiritual and corporal needs.”
    St. Louis de Montfort

    “Never will anyone who says his Rosary every day become a formal heretic or be led astray by the devil.”
    St. Louis de Montfort

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

    “Pray with great confidence, with confidence based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.”
    St. Louis de Montfort

    “Until we (vowed religious) have acquired genuine prayer, we are like people teaching children to begin to walk.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “Are you making no progress in prayer? Then you need only offer God the prayers which the Savior has poured out for us in the sacrament of the altar. Offer God his fervent love in reparation for your sluggishness. In the course of every activity pray as follows: 'My God, I do this or I endure that in the heart of your Son and according to his holy counsels. I offer it to you in reparation for anything blameworthy or imperfect in my actions.' Continue to do this in every circumstance of life.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “A man wanted to do evil, but first prayed as usual; and finding himself prevented by God, he was then extremely thankful.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

    “Let us all resign ourselves into His hands, and pray that in all things He may guide us to do His Holy Will ... When thoughts of this or that come I turn to Him and say: "Only what you will, my God. Use me as You will.”
    St. Mary MacKillop

    “A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.”
    St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

    “God will not hear our prayers unless we acknowledge ourselves to be sinners. We do this when we ponder on our own sins alone, and not on those of our neighbor.”
    St. Moses of Ethiopia

    “Meditate often on the sorrows of the holy Mother, sorrows inseparable from those of her beloved Son. If you seek the Cross, there you will find the Mother; and where the Mother is, there also is the Son.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “A man without prayer is an animal without the use of reason.”
    St. Philip Neri

    “It is an old custom with the servants of God always to have some little prayers ready and to be darting them up to heaven frequently during the day, lifting their minds to God out of the filth of this world. He who adopts this plan will get great fruit with little pains.”
    St. Philip Neri

    “Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God's heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips, but with your heart. In fact on certain occasions you should only speak to Him with your heart.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Pray, hope, and don't worry.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him by glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.”
    St. Polycarp of Smyrna

    “Let prayer delight thee more than disputations, and the charity which buildeth up more than the knowledge which puffeth up.”
    St. Robert Bellarmine

    “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and He did listen.”
    St. Scholastica

    “For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “O my God, what must a soul be like when it is in this state! It longs to be all one tongue with which to praise the Lord. It utters a thousand pious follies, in a continuous endeavor to please Him who thus possesses it.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “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

    “If we try to escape sadness by seeking our consolation in sleep, we will fail to find what we are seeking, for we will lose in sleep the consolation we might have received from God if we had stayed awake and prayed.”
    St. Thomas More

  • prideOpen or Close

    “If we are worth anything, it is not because we have more money or more talent, or more human qualities. Insofar as we are worth anything, it is because we are grafted on to Christ's life, his cross and resurrection. That is a person's measure.”
    Archbishop Oscar Romero

    “The proud man counts his newspaper clippings, the humble man his blessings.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “Pride is an admission of weakness; it secretly fears all competition and dreads all rivals.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “The major temptation is pride — it should not be I did it my way, but I did it Thy way. True happiness comes from humbly conforming to His will.”
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan

    “It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”
    Thomas Merton

    “We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have — for their usefulness.”
    Thomas Merton

    “We live in a culture of narcissism, and within one of the most titanic vortexes of influence: self-fulfillment, self-esteem, self-healing, and self-help: Endless self, always seeking, promising and never delivering a total, salvific solution. And we bring and rely on that flawed self within our prayer, adversely affecting our prayer relationship with God the Trinity. What we need is Grace — God's freely given Life within us.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Our fatherland is paradise, heaven. We have departed from it by pride, disobedience, abuse of the senses, therefore it is needed that we return to it by obedience, contempt of the world, and by taming the desires of the flesh; thus we return to our own country by another road. By forbidden pleasures we have forfeited the joys of paradise, by penance we must regain them.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “Perhaps it is not after all so difficult for a man to part with his possessions, but it is certainly most difficult for him to part with himself. To renounce what one has is a minor thing; but to renounce what one is, that is asking a lot.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “Attribute to God every good that you have received. If you take credit for something that does not belong to you, you will be guilty of theft.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
    St. Augustine

    “If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”
    st. augustine

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

    “Take a moment to think of everything you're proud of about yourself and your life. Then ask yourself if you would have any of this without God's permission and aid? Give credit where credit is due; praise and thank Him, not yourself.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “May we never risk the life of our souls by being resentful or by bearing grudges.”
    st. gregory nyssa

    “Now, O son of God, set in the valley of true humility, walk in peace without pride of spirit, which, like a precipitous mountain, offers a difficult, or near-impossible, ascent or descent to those who attempt to scale it, and on its summit no building can be built. For a person who tries to climb higher than he can achieve possesses the name of sanctity without substance, because, in name alone without a structure of good works, he glories in a kind of vain joy of the mind.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “Humility is the only thing that no devil can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt that humility could make angels out of demons.”
    St. John Climacus

    “Those who trust in themselves are worse than the devil!”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Pride makes us forgetful of our eternal interests. It causes us to neglect totally the care of our soul.”
    St. John Baptist de La Salle

    “We will either accuse ourselves or excuse ourselves.”
    st. john vianney

    “What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He Caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “It was His Will that after His death the Church should give us His image in the crucifix, that he might appear to us in a condition of utmost ignominy. And why? He did it because He knew the worth of humility and the danger of the sin which opposes it.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

    “You must ask God to give you power to fight against the sin of pride which is your greatest enemy — the root of all that is evil, and the failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

  • reconciliationOpen or Close

    “Hearing nuns’ confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “As members of the Church, we must have the courage to ask humbly for God’s pardon, as well as for the forgiveness of those who have been wounded: we must remain close to them on their road of suffering, seeking in every possible way to heal and bind up the wounds following the example of the Good Samaritan.”
    Cardinal Marc Ouellet

    “Ask for His supernatural Grace to overcome your bad habits, your addictions and inordinate affections — ask for His actual graces in a specific situation to avoid sin and choose Him.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “If you do anything in Lent, meditate upon, and pray continuously, this passage: 'Lord, lay your healing Hand upon me, for I have sinned.' It intimates the Lord God can and will heal us — but we need to keep asking for His help.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “God is not a relentless sovereign who condemns the guilty but a loving Father whom we must love, not for fear of punishment, but for His kindness, His quickness to forgive.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Don’t forget this, the Lord never gets tired of forgiving, it is we that get tired of asking forgiveness.”
    Pope Francis

    “To those who are now promising to fix all your problems, I say, ‘Go and fix yourself.’...Have a change of heart. Get to confession, before you need it even more! The current crisis will not be improved by magicians from outside the country and nor will (improvement) come from the golden mouth of our politicians, so accustomed to making incredible promises.”
    Pope Francis

    “What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Advent is such a beautiful season. It is a time for renewal; it is especially a time for forgiveness, because God brings his forgiveness to us in the shape of his Son.”
    Catherine de Hueck Doherty

    “The most fundamental need we have in our lives is to beg God for His forgiveness.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Assuredly, Loving Souls, you should go to God with all humility and respect, humbling yourselves in His presence, especially when you remember your past ingratitude and sins.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “With such thoughts in your mind, now that you have resolved to love Him and please Him with all your strength, your only fear should be to fear God too much and to place too little confidence in Him.”
    st. alphonsus ligouri

    “The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.”
    st. augustine

    “There is still time for endurance, time for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners, but leap aside.”
    St. Basil the Great

    “There is no sinner in the world, however much at enmity with God, who cannot recover God's grace by recourse to Mary, and by asking her assistance.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “I feel no disgust when I hear the confessions of those near their end, whose wounds are full of maggots...This may give you some idea of my daily work. Picture to yourself a collection of huts with 800 lepers. No doctor; in fact, as there is no cure, there seems no place for a doctor's skill.”
    St. Damien of Molokai

    “In confession there is mercy. Believe it firmly, do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Many who confess their venial sins out of custom and concern for order but without thought of amendment remain burdened with them for their whole life and thus lose many spiritual benefits and advantages.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “At the time of your examination beware of the devil that ties your tongue.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelieving heart, so that I should recall my sins.”
    st. patrick

    “He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “If we plant a flower or a shrub and water it daily it will grow so tall that in time we shall need a spade and a hoe to uproot it. It is just so, I think, when we commit a fault, however small, each day, and do not cure ourselves of it.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

  • sacramentsOpen or Close

    “In the sacraments, spirit and matter 'kiss.' Heaven and earth embrace in a union that will never end.”
    christopher west

    “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth.”
    J.R.R. Tolkien

    “The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion. Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise. Frequency is of the highest effect. Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals.”
    J.R.R. Tolkien

    “The Holy Eucharist is the principle Sacrament. The other six Sacraments are directed to the Eucharist.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “If we are going to stop the demonic plague of abortion, we must receive the two sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession, and often, because the principle source of grace on earth is the Holy Eucharist. But we must receive the Holy Communion in the state of grace, otherwise we commit another mortal sin of sacrilege.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “What is the underlying philosophy behind the growing practice of killing the incurably ill and the dying. Behind this practice is the philosophy which ignores or denies the value of suffering.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The present Holy Father (at that time, Pope John Paul II) has been luminously clear, that when we speak of the Eucharist as a Sacrament, we should always, and from now on without failing, understand by that statement that the Eucharist is a Sacrament, to mean that it is a three-fold Sacrament.  As the Pope tells us, the Eucharist is a sacrifice sacrament, a communion sacrament, and presence sacrament.  Keeping always in mind the moment we use the word Sacrament as Catholics, we mean something in the sensibly perceptible order that signifies the conferral of grace and that produces, that's the Catholic verb, produces, the grace it signifies.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “If we are going to obtain the grace for a world that has become intoxicated with pride and intoxicated with lust, we ourselves must live lives of above average sanctity. By living lives of prayer as we have never done before, by receiving the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist, frequently, and with resounding emphasis, living lives of honest to God chastity.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The Eucharistic mystery stands at the heart and center of the liturgy since it is the fount of life by which we are cleansed and strengthened to live not for ourselves but for God and to be united in love among ourselves.”
    pope paul vi

    “The heart preparing to receive the Holy Eucharist should be like a crystal vase.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “It is needful also to make use of tradition, for not everything can be gotten from sacred Scripture. The holy apostles handed down some things in the scriptures, other things in tradition.”
    St. Epiphanius of Salamis

    “What does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.”
    st. francis of assisi

    “Do you want our Lord to give you many graces? Visit him often. Do you want him to give you few graces? Visit him seldom. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are powerful and indispensable means of overcoming the attacks of the devil. Make frequent visits to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and the devil will be powerless against you.”
    st. john bosco

    “If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man. The miser would run no more after his treasures, or the ambitious after glory; each would shake off the dust of the earth, leave the world, and fly away towards heaven.”
    st. john vianney

    “When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.”
    st. Josemaría Escrivá

    “Ours is the Spirit of the Eucharist, the total Gift of Self.”
    St. Katharine Drexel

    “And about your laughing at me and calling me Christian, you know not what you are saying. First, because that which is anointed is sweet and serviceable, and far from contemptible. For what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy, unless it be first anointed? Or what castle or house is beautiful and serviceable when it has not been anointed? And what man, when he enters into this life or into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? And what work has either ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and burnished? Then the air and all that is under heaven is in a certain sort anointed by light and spirit; and are you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God? Wherefore we are called Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God.”
    St. Theophilus of Antioch

    “The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord’s Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion.”
    st. thomas aquinas

  • sacrificeOpen or Close

    “If laypeople don’t love their Catholic faith enough to struggle for it in the public square, nothing the bishops do will finally matter.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “In our own families, in our parishes, where we live and where we work — like that very first apostolic generation — we must be bold witnesses to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We must be a fearless army of Catholic men, ready to give everything we have for the Lord, who gave everything for our salvation.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Faith ventures and hazards...counting the costs and delighting in the sacrifice.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men.”
    Cesar Chavez

    “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.”
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky

    “You have yet many things which you must give up, and unless you resign them entirely to God you will not obtain that which you ask.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Christian history looks glorious in retrospect; but it is made up of constant hard choices and unattractive tasks, accepted under the pressure of the Will of God.”
    Evelyn Underhill

    “Today our (Society of Jesus) prime educational objective must be to form men (and women) for others; men (and women) who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ — for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men (and women) who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men (and women) completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.”
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe

    “Only by being a man (or woman) for others does one become fully human.”
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe

    “In order to be Christian, our lives must be a continual renunciation and sacrifice. However, we know that the difficulties of this world are nothing compared to the eternal happiness that awaits us, where there will be no limit to our joy, no end to our happiness, and we shall enjoy unimaginable peace. And so, young people, learn from our Lord Jesus Christ the meaning of sacrifice.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

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

    “Are you capable of risking your life for someone? Do it for Christ.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “When gold has been purified up to twenty-four carats, it can no longer be consumed by any fire; not gold itself but only dross can be burnt away. Thus the divine fire works in the soul: God holds the soul in the fire until its every imperfection is burnt away and it is brought to perfection, as it were to the purity of twenty-four carats, each soul however according to its own degree. When the soul has been purified it stays wholly in God, having nothing of self in it; its being is in God who has led this cleansed soul to Himself; it can suffer no more for nothing is left in it to be burnt away; were it held in the fire when it has thus been cleansed, it would feel no pain. Rather the fire of divine love would be to it like eternal life and in no way contrary to it.”
    St. Catherine of Genoa

    “Look, look on Jesus, poor and crucified, look on this Holy One, who for your love has died, and remember as you contemplate the sacred mysteries, this Jesus whom you gaze upon, loves you most tenderly.”
    St. Clare of Assisi

    “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.”
    St. Damien of Molokai

    “One cannot desire freedom from the Cross when one is especially chosen for the Cross.”
    St. Edith Stein

    “Since God does so much for me, what could I not do for him?”
    St. Emily de Vialar

    “Woe to me if I should prove myself but a half-hearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.”
    St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

    “Fix your minds on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.”
    St. Francis of Paola

    “God wishes to test you like gold in the furnace. The dross is consumed by the fire, but the pure gold remains and its value increases. It is in this manner than God acts with his good servant, who puts his hope in him and remains unshaken in times of distress. God raises him up and, in return for the things he has left out of love for God, he repays him a hundredfold in this life and with eternal life hereafter.”
    St. Jerome Emiliani

    “Beloved, all that is harsh and difficult I want for myself, and all that is gentle and sweet for thee.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to Heaven!”
    St. John Vianney

    “All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Every time we come into the presence of the Eucharist we may say: This precious Testament cost Jesus Christ His life. For the Eucharist is a testament, a legacy which becomes valid only at the death of the testator. Our Lord thereby shows us His boundless love, for He Himself said there is no greater proof of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
    St. Peter Julian Eymard

    “Bear the cross and do not make the cross bear you.”
    St. Philip Neri

    “Yes, I love the cross, the cross alone, because I always see it behind Jesus' shoulders.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self: there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “The greatest honor God can do a soul is not to give it much, but to ask much of it.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Look at His adorable face.
    Look at His glazed and sunken eyes.
    Look at His wounds.
    Look Jesus in the Face.
    There, you will see how He loves us.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “How can we complain when He Himself was considered 'as one struck by God and afflicted'(Isa. 53:4)”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “The Blessed Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament of the Lord’s Passion, since It contains Christ Himself and his Passion.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • saintsOpen or Close

    “Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: 'saint.' It a more difficult degree to attain. It takes a lifetime, and you don't get your diploma until you're dead.”
    Mother Angelica

    “In Joseph there was amiability and the figure of a just man to make the quality of his witness more worthy.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The saints are like the stars. In His providence Christ conceals them in a hidden place that they may not shine before others when they might wish to do so. Yet they are always ready to exchange the quiet of contemplation for the works of mercy as soon as they perceive in their heart the invitation of Christ.”
    St. Anthony of Padua

    “There is a general rule concerning all special graces granted to any human being. Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace, or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand. This general rule is especially verified in the case of Saint Joseph, the foster-father of our Lord, and the husband of the Queen of our world, enthroned above the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying “Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” Remember us, Saint Joseph, and plead for us to your foster child. Ask your most holy bride, the Virgin Mary, to look kindly upon us, since she is the mother of him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns eternally.”
    St. Bernardine of Siena

    “By word of mouth, by letters, by miracles, and by the example of his own life, Saint Paul bore the name of Jesus wherever he went. He praised the name of Jesus 'at all times,' but never more than when 'bearing witness to his faith.'”
    St. Bernardine of Siena

    “In beautiful things St. Francis saw Beauty itself, and through His vestiges imprinted on creation he followed his Beloved everywhere, making from all things a ladder by which he could climb up and embrace Him who is utterly desirable. If you desire to know … ask grace, not instruction; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not diligent reading; the Spouse, not the teacher; God, not man; darkness not clarity; not light, but fire that totally inflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

    “I confess before God that what made me love Saint Francis’ way of life so much was that it is exactly like the origin and the perfection of the Church itself, which began first with simple fishermen and afterward developed to include the most illustrious and learned doctors. You find the same thing in the Order of Saint Francis; in this way God reveals that it did not come about through human calculations but through Christ.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

    “If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “To saints, their very slumber is a prayer.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: 'But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....' Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory.”
    St. John of Damascus

    “You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

  • salvationOpen or Close

    “When we arrive late for Mass, we forfeit almost any opportunity to put ourselves into a good frame of mind and heart for the Eucharist. We miss the chance to speak to the Lord in private prayer before Mass begins. We pass up the chance to recollect ourselves and to ask forgiveness for our sins that hinder us from opening our hearts to the redeeming love Jesus wants to share with us in and through the Eucharist.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “Grounded in the power of the resurrection, there is nothing in this world, and nothing in Hell, that can ultimately defeat God’s one, true, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.”
    Bishop Daniel R. Jenky

    “Vatican II declares the Church... as necessary for salvation.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “I understand that you are trying to get me released (from a prison camp). But I beg you not to do this. Yesterday they (Nazis) killed fifty people. If I am not here, who will help them to get through these sufferings? They would go on their way to eternity with all their sins and in the depths of unbelief, which would take them to hell. But now they go to death with their heads held aloft, leaving all their sins behind them. And so they pass over to the eternal city.”
    Blessed Emilian Kowcz

    “The priest is a fragile person with his baggage of guilt and misery that await God's forgiveness and conversion.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Do penance for all sinners and liberate by your loving actions.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “Salvation brings the soul a deep awareness of God’s Love. Life takes on more meaning for it now has a purpose. Trials and crosses are no longer mysteries but caresses from the Crucified Lord.”
    Mother Angelica

    “In our ecclesiastical region (Buenos Aires) there are priests who don’t baptize the children of single mothers because they weren’t conceived in the sanctity of marriage. These are today’s hypocrites. Those who clericalise the church. Those who separate the people of God from salvation. And this poor girl who, rather than returning the child to sender, had the courage to carry it into the world, must wander from parish to parish so that it’s baptised!”
    Pope Francis

    “There is no redemption from hell.”
    Pope Paul III

    “Let us fix our gaze on the blood of Christ, realizing how precious it is to his Father, since it was shed for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to all the world.”
    Pope St. Clement

    “God decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “He who prays is saved; and he who does not pray is damned.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Three things are necessary to everyone regardless of status, sex, or age, i.e., truth of faith which brings understanding; love of Christ which brings compassion; endurance of hope which brings perseverance. No adult is in state of salvation unless he has faithful understanding in his mind, loving compassion in his heart, and enduring perseverance in his actions.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

    “Everything comes from love, all is ordained for the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “We will have to labor hard, to sweat, to die: but the thought that one sweats and dies for love of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the most abandoned souls in the world, is far too sweet for us to desist from this great enterprise.”
    St. Daniel Comboni

    “And I understood that the greatest attribute of God is love and mercy. It unites the creature with the Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption (of humanity), and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God’s attributes.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

    “The Law of Christ, which finds its fulfillment in charity, binds us to desire the welfare of people's soul more than that of the body.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “We ought to fast, and to abstain from all vice, and from all that will lead us into sin, as well as from extravagance and superfluity. We should often visit the churches, and venerate and reverence all ecclesiastics on account of their office, and because they distribute the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ, which they offer in sacrifice, receive themselves, and administer to others. And let everyone know and hold for certain that we cannot be saved except through the sacred Words and the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which priests preach, announce, and distribute, and of which they are the sole ministers.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Salvation is shown to faith, it is prepared for hope, but it is given only to charity. Faith points out the way to the land of promise as a pillar of fire hope feeds us with its manna of sweetness, but charity actually introduces us into the Promised Land.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “With sin, O Jesus, I gave you the death, but I do not despair of your forgiveness. Those scourges call me, those arms extended invite me, that injured Heart offers me a secure shelter.”
    St. Gabriel Possenti

    “My sole merit lies in Your wounds.”
    St. Gabriel Possenti

    “We know with holy and Catholic Faith that what was not assumed, was not redeemed.”
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus

    “Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Savior; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state?”
    St. Gregory of Nyssa

    “Like hairs on the head, mortal man is joined to Jesus Christ, the head of all, but they are full of transgressions and sins because of man's delight in the flesh. But the Church regenerates and purifies these from the unclean stench and filth of sin by penitence and confession, just as hair is cleansed from dew and drops, and as dust is shaken out and cleansed from wool.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “Christ, like a skillful physician, understands the weakness of men. He loves to teach the ignorant and the erring he turns again to his own true way. He is easily found by those who live by faith and to those of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, he opens immediately.”
    St. Hippolytus

    “Our Lord who saved the world through the Cross will only work for the good of souls through the Cross.”
    St. Madeline Sophie Barat

    “The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: 'Who will contend with me? Let him confront me.' I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.”
    St. Melito of Sardis

    “No tongue can express the greatness of the love which Jesus Christ bears to our souls. He did not wish that between Him and His servants there should be any other pledge than Himself, to keep alive the remembrance of Him.”
    St. Peter of Alcantara

    “He (Christ) really made His body a living sacrifice, because, though slain, He continues to live. In such a victim death receives its ransom, but the victim remains alive. Death itself suffers the punishment. This is why death for the martyrs is actually a birth, and their end a beginning. Their execution is the door to life, and those who were thought to have been blotted out from the earth shine brilliantly in heaven.”
    St. Peter Chrysologus

    “Man's salvation and perfection consists of doing the will of God which he must have in view in all things, and at every moment of his life.”
    St. Peter Claver

    “The wicked one, on the watch, carried me off as booty as I lazily slept. He led my mind into error; he plundered my spirit and snatched away The wealth of Thy grace, this arch robber. So raise me up, as I am fallen, and summon me, Saviour, Thou who dost will that all men be saved.”
    St. Romanos the Melodist

    “Look then on Jesus, the author and preserver of faith: in complete sinlessness He suffered, and at the hands of those who were His own, and was numbered among the wicked. As you drink the cup of the Lord Jesus (how glorious it is!), give thanks to the Lord, the giver of all blessings.”
    St. Raymond of Penyafort

  • scienceOpen or Close

    “Faith answers why, science how.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Scientific knowledge, which regards itself as 'objective' must therefore ignore the proper sensibles. By this, scientific knowledge impoverishes itself: in order to achieve greater quantitative precision, it sacrifices a more qualitative knowledge.”
    Fr. Marie Dominique Philippe

    “Because medicine is an art, it can touch quality, it can act on dispositions but not on the substance. Certainly there also exists a medicine which only acknowledges and works through quantity: as a matter of fact this is precisely the nature of a medicine which is entirely dependent on modern science, which pays no attention to anything except quantity.”
    Fr. Marie Dominique Philippe

    “Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure, but it has great difficulty in generating joy.”
    pope paul vi

    “Physics does not change the nature of the world it studies, and no science of behavior can change the essential nature of man, even though both sciences yield technologies with a vast power to manipulate the subject matters.”
    pope paul vi

    “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”
    St. Augustine

    “If God had drawn the world from preexistent matter, what would be so extraordinary in that? A human artisan makes from a given material whatever he wants, while God shows His power by starting from nothing to make all He wants.”
    St. Theophilus of Antioch

  • scriptureOpen or Close

    “Participation in the Eucharistic prayer requires attentive listening to the Word of God. The Mass, after all, is not like a football game with two parts interrupted by a half-time show (the homily). Rather, the Mass is a single act of worship. By listening to the revealed Word of God in Scripture and by reflecting on its meaning for our lives, we are prepared to enter, heart and soul, into Christ's ultimate act of love — his saving death and glorious resurrection. We are prepared to experience, all over again, the depth of His love for us and for the whole Church to whom His loves unites us.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “The prophets pointed the finger at the abuses of power and the resignation of injustice.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “If the word of God is love, then one who has read and prayed over the word must incarnate love. It must lead to communion, solidarity and dialogue.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “The story of Jesus is to be proclaimed and celebrated. Some will hear and rejoice, some will remain indifferent, some will become hostile. The story of Jesus will not always be accepted, but it must be told.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “The idea that ‘preaching the Gospel’ has nothing to do with sex and that ‘preaching about sex’ has nothing to do with the Gospel betrays layers and layers of seriously misguided thinking. When we divorce God’s love from sexual love, as Pope Benedict says, ‘the essence of Christianity’ becomes ‘decisively cut off from the complex fabric of human life.’ (God is Love 7). The ‘gospel’ then becomes cold, aloof, inhuman. In other words, we’re no longer preaching the real Gospel.”
    christopher west

    “Learn the heart of God from the word of God.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “Holy Scripture is a stream in which the elephant may swim and the lamb may wade.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind’s eye. In it we see our inner face. From the Scriptures we can learn our spiritual deformities and beauties. And there too we discover the progress we are making and how far we are from perfection.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “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

    “You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.”
    St. Athanasius the Great

    “If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”
    st. augustine

    “Girded with faith and the performance of good works, let us follow in His paths by the guidance of the Gospel.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

    “The world would have peace if only men of politics would follow the Gospels.”
    St. Bridget of Sweden

    “For as the blessed prophets were made, so to speak, eyes for us, they foresaw through faith the mysteries of the word, and became ministers of these things also to succeeding generations, not only reporting the past, but also announcing the present and the future, so that the prophet might not appear to be one only for the time being, but might also predict the future for all generations, and so be reckoned a (true) prophet.”
    St. Hippolytus

    “If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “Reading the Holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns man's attention from the follies of the world and leads him to the love of God.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest.”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
    st. jerome

    Every Christian must be a living book wherein one can read the teaching of the gospel. This is what Saint Paul says to the Corinthians, 'Clearly you are a letter of Christ which I have delivered, a letter written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh in the heart' (2 Corinthians 3:3). Our heart is the parchment; through my ministry the Holy Spirit is the writer because 'my tongue is nimble as the pen of a skillful scribe'(Psalms 45:2).”
    St. Joseph of Leonessa

    “Henceforth, ye Greeks, come and partake of incomparable wisdom, and be instructed by the Divine Word, and acquaint yourselves with the King immortal; and do not recognize those men as heroes who slaughter whole nations. For our own Ruler, the Divine Word, who even now constantly aids us, does not desire strength of body and beauty of feature, nor yet the high spirit of earth’s nobility, but a pure soul, fortified by holiness, and the watchwords of our King, holy actions, for through the Word power passes into the soul.”
    St. Justin

    “The word of God is replete with manifold blessings, since it is, so to speak, a treasure of all goods. It is the source of faith, hope, charity, all virtue, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the beatitudes of the Gospel, all good works, all the rewards of life, all the glory of paradise...For the word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. It enables man to know God and to love him. And for the interior man who lives by the Spirit of God through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk. For the soul it is a spiritual treasure of merits yielding an abundance of gold and precious stones. Against the hardness of a heart that persists in wrongdoing, it acts like a hammer. Against the world, the flesh and the devil it serves as a sword that destroys all sin.”
    St. Lawrence of Brindisi

    “When Scripture says, 'He will reward every man according to his works' (Matthew 16:27), do not imagine that works in themselves merit either hell or the Kingdom. On the contrary, Christ rewards each man according to whether his works are done with faith or without faith in Himself; and He is not a dealer bound by contract, but God our Creator and Redeemer.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

    “That which I have set out in Latin is not my words but the words of God and of apostles and prophets, who of course have never lied. He who believes shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be damned. God has spoken.”
    St. Patrick

    “Help yourself during this troubled period by reading holy books. This reading provides excellent food for the soul and conduces to great progress along the path of perfection. By no means is it inferior to what we obtain through prayer and holy meditation. In prayer and meditation it is ourselves who speak to the Lord, while in holy reading it is God who speaks to us. Before beginning to read, raise your mind to the Lord and implore Him to guide your mind Himself, to speak to your heart and move your will.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Read some chapter of a devout book....It is very easy and most necessary, for just as you speak to God when at prayer, God speaks to you when you read.”
    St. Vincent de Paul

  • sexOpen or Close

    “Access to inexpensive contraception is a problem nowhere in the United States. The (HHS) mandate is thus an ideological statement; the imposition of a preferential option for infertility. And if millions of Americans disagree with it on principle — too bad.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “There’s a special lesson in our current situation. Anyone who thinks that our country’s neuralgic sexuality issues can somehow be worked out respectfully in the public square in the years ahead, without a parallel and vigorous defense of religious freedom, had better think again.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “The free exchange of consent properly witnessed by the Church establishes the marriage bond. Sexual union consummates it — seals it, completes it, perfects it. Sexual union, then, is where the words of the wedding vows become flesh.”
    christopher west

    “The Church’s basic moral principle regarding reproductive technologies is this: if a given technology assists the marital embrace in achieving its natural end, it can be morally acceptable, even praiseworthy. However, if it replaces the marital embrace as the means by which the child is conceived, it’s not in keeping with God’s design.”
    christopher west

    “The idea that ‘preaching the Gospel’ has nothing to do with sex and that ‘preaching about sex’ has nothing to do with the Gospel betrays layers and layers of seriously misguided thinking. When we divorce God’s love from sexual love, as Pope Benedict says, ‘the essence of Christianity’ becomes ‘decisively cut off from the complex fabric of human life.’ (God is Love 7). The ‘gospel’ then becomes cold, aloof, inhuman. In other words, we’re no longer preaching the real Gospel.”
    christopher west

    “We live in a culture in which condoms can be handed out in schools and Bibles can’t. And I think that tells you everything you need to know about our society.”
    janet smith

    “Now, this is the most amazing thing when you think about it. Sperm, this little sperm, it does not have an immortal soul. And the ovum, you see, it does not have an immortal soul. And when the two come together, where does that immortal soul come from? The sperm doesn’t carry it. The egg doesn’t carry it. Where does it come from? It comes from a new act of creation by God. In each act of conception, there needs to be a new act of creation by God.”
    janet smith

    “What is the purpose and meaning and nature of sexual intercourse? It seems to me to be quite clear. It’s for two things. It’s for babies and it’s for bonding. And that’s what happens when you have sexual intercourse — you have babies and you bond. My view is, if you don’t want to have babies and you don’t want to bond, then you shouldn’t be having sexual intercourse.”
    janet smith

    “Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is more or less strong tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted.”
    St. Clement

  • sinOpen or Close

    “The answer to the question 'What's wrong with the world?' is just two words: 'I am.'”
    G.K. Chesterton

    “In a world gone astray from God there is no peace, but it also lacks charity, which is true and perfect love... Nothing is more beautiful than love. Indeed, faith and hope will end when we die, whereas love, that is, charity, will last for eternity; if anything, I think it will be even more alive in the next life!”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “Surrender to sexual desire for its own sake defiles a man in a way that gluttony, for example, can never do. It wounds him to the core of his being, and he becomes in an absolutely different and novel fashion guilty of sin.”
    Dietrich von Hildebrand

    “The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.”
    Thomas Merton

    “We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen.”
    Thomas Merton

    “It is sad that those who worship idols sacrifice other people while preserving themselves and their interests. How many factory workers are being denied the right wages for the god of profit? How many women are being sacrificed to the god of domination? How many children are being sacrificed to the god of lust? How many trees, rivers, hills are being sacrificed to the god of 'progress'? How many poor people are being sacrificed to the god of greed? How many defenseless people are being sacrificed to the god of national security?”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “God has allowed the plague of abortion, I hope you will believe me, because of our sins, and don't change the phenomenal adjective, because of 'OUR' sins, yours and mine.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The fifth commandment is being so widely ignored and openly denied. Innocent children are being murdered, and the laws of once civilized nations like our own legalize murder. Why? The main single reason is because unchaste people are cruel people. Only chaste people are loving people.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Consequently, if every sin has consequences, murder surely does. The first consequence therefore is the loss of grace. And our faith teaches us every deliberate homicide is a mortal sin and deprives the person who takes the human life of another person, deprives the murderer of his or her supernatural life. Abortion therefore is always, comma, always, comma, always a mortal sin.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “However, there is a second effect where we sin, and that is what we call penalty.  Penalty is the debt of suffering which is due to everyone who commits sin. Sin and pain go together as cause and effect. All pain, all suffering, is always due to sin. Not necessarily, as we  also believe, the sin of the one who suffers. There is such a thing as others suffering for my sin, and my suffering for their sin.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “God does not send us to heaven or hell depending on how often we obey or disobey. God is love and only love. In God there is no hatred, desire for revenge, or pleasure in seeing us punished. God wants to forgive, heal, restore, show us endless mercy, and see us come home. But just as the father of the prodigal son let his son make his own decision God gives us the freedom to move away from God's love even at the risk of destroying ourselves.

    Hell is not God's choice. It is ours.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “If we knew at what time we were to depart from this world, we would be able to select a season for pleasure and another for repentance. But God, who has promised pardon to every repentant sinner, has not promised us tomorrow. Therefore we must always dread the final day, which we can never foresee. This very day is a day of truce, a day for conversion. And yet we refuse to cry over the evil we have done! Not only do we not weep for the sins we have committed, we even add to them.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “What grieves me most in my past offenses, O my loving God, is not so much the punishment I have deserved, as the displeasure I have given You, Who are worthy of infinite love.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “What grieves me most in my past offenses, O my loving God, is not so much the punishment I have deserved, as the displeasure I have given You, Who are worthy of infinite love.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “A good tree, that is, a good heart as well as a soul on fire with charity, can do nothing but good and holy works. For this reason Saint Augustine said: "Love, and do what you will," namely, possess love and charity and then do what you will. It is as if he had said: Charity is not able to sin.”
    St. Angela Merici

    “The sin is caused not by the flesh, but by the will of the soul, and the corruption contracted from sin is not sin, but sin's punishment.”
    St. Augustine

    “Punishment is justice for the unjust.”
    St. Augustine

    “Are you troubled? Think but of Jesus, speak but the name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? So that you fear death? invoke the name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy name; there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “If you are sinful, repent so that you can communicate often. If you are imperfect, go often to Communion that you may amend your faults.”
    St. Claude de la Colombiere

    “Filthy talk makes us feel comfortable with filthy action. But the one who knows how to control the tongue is prepared to resist the attacks of lust.”
    st. clement

    “The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.”
    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

    “Nothing ought to be so disagreeable to a servant of God but sin.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Nor did demons crucify Him; it is you who have crucified Him and crucify Him still, when you delight in your vices and sins.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “We can never attain to perfection while we have an affection for any imperfection.”
    St. Francis de Sales

    “Let it be assured that to do no wrong is really superhuman and belongs to God alone.”
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus

    “For when God gave great knowledge to the human being, the human being elevated himself in his soul and turned away from God. God so regarded the human being that he would perfect all his works in him. But the old deceiver tricked human beings and infected them with the crime of disobedience, by the delight of an unseasonable wind, so that they sought for more than they should have.”
    St. Hildegard of Bingen

    “Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.”
    st. jerome

    “Would we wish that our own hidden sins should be divulged? We ought, then, to be silent regarding those of others.”
    St. John Baptist de La Salle

    “Fly from bad companions as from the bite of a poisonous snake. If you keep good companions, I can assure you that you will one day rejoice with the blessed in Heaven; whereas if you keep with those who are bad, you will become bad yourself, and you will be in danger of losing your soul.”
    St. John Bosco

    “If you cannot go without eating all day because of an ailment of the body, beloved one, no logical man will be able to criticize you for that. Besides, we have a Lord who is meek and loving and who does not ask for anything beyond our power. Because He neither requires the abstinence from foods, neither that the fast take place for the simple sake of fasting, neither is its aim that we remain with empty stomachs, but that we fast to offer our entire selves to the dedication of spiritual things, having distanced ourselves from secular things. If we regulated our life with a sober mind and directed all of our interest toward spiritual things, and if we ate as much as we needed to satisfy our necessary needs and offered our entire lives to good works, we would not have any need of the help rendered by the fast.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother,… You dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal…. God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “God created man to be straightforward, but he has entangled himself with an infinity of questions.”
    St. John of Damascus

    “To abstain from sinful actions is not sufficient for the fulfillment of God's law. The very desire of what is forbidden is evil.”
    St. John Baptist de La Salle

    “Sin is the executioner of the good God, and the assassin of the soul. It snatches us away from Heaven to precipitate us into Hell. And we love it!”
    St. John Vianney

    “As soon as you willfully allow a dialogue with temptation to begin, the soul is robbed of peace, just as consent to impurity destroys grace.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “First let us take these two undeniable truths as a basis: 'God wants all men to be saved,' 'All are in need of the grace of God.' Now, if I show you that God wants to save all men, and that for this purpose He gives all of them His grace and all the other necessary means of obtaining that sublime end, you will be obliged to agree that whoever is damned must impute it to his own malice, and that if the greater number of Christians are damned, it is because they want to be. 'Thy damnation comes from thee; thy help is only in Me.'”
    St. Leonard of Port Mauric

    “God will not hear our prayers unless we acknowledge ourselves to be sinners. We do this when we ponder on our own sins alone, and not on those of our neighbor.”
    St. Moses of Ethiopia

    “It is not sinners, but the wicked who should despair; it is not the magnitude of one’s crime, but contempt of God that dashes one’s hopes.”
    St. Peter Damian

    “It is true that we cannot be free from sin, but at least let our sins not be always the same.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found, not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “If we plant a flower or a shrub and water it daily it will grow so tall that in time we shall need a spade and a hoe to uproot it. It is just so, I think, when we commit a fault, however small, each day, and do not cure ourselves of it.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Lord, may any joy without you be burdensome for me.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • slothOpen or Close

    “Young people are threatened by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Idleness is the enemy of the soul; and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout reading.”
    St. Benedict of Nursia

    “The man who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded, equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth. ”
    St. Isidore of Seville

    “Are you making no progress in prayer? Then you need only offer God the prayers which the Savior has poured out for us in the sacrament of the altar. Offer God his fervent love in reparation for your sluggishness. In the course of every activity pray as follows: 'My God, I do this or I endure that in the heart of your Son and according to his holy counsels. I offer it to you in reparation for anything blameworthy or imperfect in my actions.' Continue to do this in every circumstance of life.”
    St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

    “If we try to escape sadness by seeking our consolation in sleep, we will fail to find what we are seeking, for we will lose in sleep the consolation we might have received from God if we had stayed awake and prayed.”
    St. Thomas More

    “You must never ask Jesus to wait.”
    St. Ursula Ledochowska

  • sufferingOpen or Close

    “A church that doesn't provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn't unsettle, a Word of God that doesn't get under anyone's skin, what kind of gospel is that? Preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed do not light up the world.”
    Archbishop Oscar Romero

    “We all suffer for each other, and gain by each other's suffering; for man never stands alone here, though he will stand alone hereafter; but here is he is a social being, and goes forward to his long home as one of a large company.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “The price of heaven is carrying the cross.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The greatest joy on earth is to suffer for the one you love, especially for the God whom I love so deeply. And I show Him how much I love Him by following His example. He suffered and died out of love for me, and that is not a pious statement; it’s real.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Among the truths of our faith, there is none more precious, more important, than what Christ tells us is the precious, priceless value of suffering.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “A Christian never runs away from the cross, which is just the opposite of the philosophy of this world.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “We know that suffering is not something to be rejected. It is rather something which God wants us to accept. Every human being suffers.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The happiest people on earth are those who do not run away from suffering.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “However, there is a second effect where we sin, and that is what we call penalty.  Penalty is the debt of suffering which is due to everyone who commits sin. Sin and pain go together as cause and effect. All pain, all suffering, is always due to sin. Not necessarily, as we  also believe, the sin of the one who suffers. There is such a thing as others suffering for my sin, and my suffering for their sin.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “The word patience comes from the Latin verb 'patior' which means 'to suffer'. Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full, and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground on which we stand grow into strong plants.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “He who wishes to love God does not truly love Him if he has not an ardent and constant desire to suffer for His sake.”
    St. Aloysius Gonzaga

    “Let us understand that God is a physician, and that suffering is a medicine for salvation, not a punishment for damnation.”
    St. Augustine

    “God had only One Son without sin, but never one without suffering.”
    St. Augustine

    “Let us trust in Him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For He is all-powerful, and He tells us: 'My yoke is easy, and my burden light.'”
    St. Boniface

    “If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.”
    St. Colette of Corbie

    “I told our Lord that I knew it (The Holocaust) was His cross that was now being placed upon the Jewish people; that most of them did not understand this, but that those who did would have to take it up willingly in the name of all. I would do that. At the end of the service, I was certain that I had been heard. But what this carrying of the cross was to consist in, that I did not yet know.”
    St. Edith Stein

    “If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “True, I am in love with suffering, but I do not know if I deserve the honor.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “I am happy to have to suffer. When one suffers one is detached from the world. God wishes that I love more than all else; He has been so generous to me and has done so much for me since I came into this world.”
    St. Jeanne-Marie Kerguin

    “The purest suffering bears and carries in its train the purest understanding.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “In the trials, annoyances and anxieties we daily experience, may we ever recognize that loving Fatherly Hand that only seeks to draw us closer to himself by giving us opportunities to suffer something for him.”
    St. Mary MacKillop

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

    “I wish that all men could understand the great favor that God grants them when, in His goodness, He sends them suffering...for then the soul, like gold which is purified in the fiery crucible, is cleansed, made beautiful, detached from earthly things, and united to the Sovereign Good, without even being conscious of it.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of the trial and in the exaltation after the combat.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart.”
    St. Rose of Lima

    “Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggles increase.”
    St. Rose of Lima

    “Pain is never permanent.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “The pain (stigmata) was so sharp that it made me utter several moans; and so excessive was the sweetness caused me by this intense pain that one can never wish to lose it.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “For one pain endured with joy, we shall love the good God more forever.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our father's love — difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs — everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness — Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events — to the heart that loves, all is well.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

    “Remember then how our fathers worked out their salvation; remember the sufferings through which the Church has grown, and the storms the ship of Peter has weathered because it has Christ on board. Remember how the crown was attained by those whose sufferings gave new radiance to their faith. The whole company of saints bears witness to the unfailing truth that without real effort no one wins the crown.”
    St. Thomas Becket

    “Every tribulation which ever comes our way either is sent to be medicinal, if we will take it as such, or may become medicinal, if we will make it such, or is better than medicinal, unless we forsake it.”
    St. Thomas More

    “Tribulation is a gift from God — one that he especially gives His special friends.”
    St. Thomas More

  • temptationOpen or Close

    “Set aside an opportune time for deep personal reflection, and think often about God's many benefits to you. Give up all light and frivolous matters, and read what inspires you to repentance of soul and not just what entertains the mind.

    If you abstain from unnecessary conversation and useless visiting, as well as from listening to idle news and gossip, you will find sufficient and suitable time for your meditations. The great saints avoided the company of men as much as they could, because they wanted to live for God in silence. ”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “Foolish is he who follows the pleasures of this world, because these are always fleeting and bring much pain. The only true pleasure is that which comes to us through faith.”
    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

    “The major temptation is pride — it should not be I did it my way, but I did it Thy way. True happiness comes from humbly conforming to His will.”
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan

    “Self-denial is one of the most important aspects of our Religion — and one of the most neglected, rejected, by the modern world. Why is this seen as passé? Because we live in a culture of comfort.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “For modernism tends to make a cult of feelings, especially of pleasure. Whatever is against these feelings is dismissed as wrong, stunting to one's personal happiness. Saying 'no' to self is not popular these days, and thus is a modernist affliction upon ascetical living — even spirituality can become one more 'I-centered' promotion of commotion. Think of it this way: When I say 'no' to self (to food or drink or anger or entertainment) then I am saying 'Yes' to God.”
    Fr. John Lombardi

    “The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Our world is full of contradictions and challenges, but it remains God's creation. The world is wounded by evil, but God loves it still…. There is no room for pessimism in the minds and hearts of those who know their Lord has conquered death and that His Spirt works with might in histor....In the face of the questions that dominant cultures pose to faith and to the Church, we renew our trust in the Lord, certain that even in these contexts the Gospel is the bearer of light and capable of healing every human weakness.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “We must not believe the Evil One when he tells us that there is nothing we can do in the face of violence, injustice and sin.”
    Pope Francis

    “Since all things lie open to His eyes and ears, let us hold Him in awe and rid ourselves of impure desires to do works of evil, so that we may be protected by His mercy from the judgement that is to come. Which of us can escape His mighty hand?”
    Pope St. Clement

    “There are in truth three states of the converted: the beginning, the middle, and the perfection. In the beginning, they experience the charms of sweetness; in the middle, the contests of temptation; and in the end, the fullness of perfection.”
    Pope St. Gregory I

    “Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Our own evil inclinations are far more dangerous than any external enemies.”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we overcame the devil. Do you think only of Christ’s temptations and fail to think of His victory? See yourself as tempted in Him, and see yourself as victorious in Him. He could have kept the devil from Himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.”
    St. Augustine

    “In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave your heart. And that you may obtain the assistance of her prayer, neglect not to walk in her footsteps. With her for guide, you shall never go astray; invoking her, you shall never lose heart.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “Are you troubled? Think but of Jesus, speak but the name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? So that you fear death? invoke the name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy name; there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name.”
    St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    “If a tiny spark of God's love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.”
    St. Charles Borromeo

    “O my Lord. Inflame my heart with love for You, that my spirit may not grow weary amidst the storms, the sufferings and the trials.”
    St. Faustina Kowalska

    “Let us not esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment, but let us live elsewhere, and raise all our attention to Heaven; esteeming sin as the only true evil, and nothing truly good, but virtue which unites us to God.”
    St. Gregory of Nazianzus

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

    “After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “If then you remain constant in faith in the face of trial, the Lord will give you peace and rest for a time in this world, and for ever in the next.”
    St. Jerome Emiliani

    “When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to his enemies...but to his friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to him, and who have great power in God.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “Guard your eyes that they may not look upon anything contrary to purity; your ears, that they may not listen to evil conversation; your mind, by banishing from it all suggestive thoughts; your heart, by stifling impure desires at their very birth.”
    St. John Baptist de La Salle

    “To abstain from sinful actions is not sufficient for the fulfillment of God's law. The very desire of what is forbidden is evil.”
    St. John Baptist de La Salle

    “I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in serving the world and its pleasures.”
    St. John Vianney

    “The sign of the cross is the most terrible weapon against the devil. Thus the Church wishes not only that we should have it continually in front of our minds to recall to us just what our souls are worth and what they cost Jesus Christ, but also that we should make it at every juncture ourselves; when we go to bed, when we awaken during the night, when we get up, when we begin any action, and above all, when we are tempted.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Temptation is necessary to make us realize that we are nothing in ourselves.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “As soon as you willfully allow a dialogue with temptation to begin, the soul is robbed of peace, just as consent to impurity destroys grace.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “When we were little, we kept close to our mother in a dark alley or if dogs barked at us. Now, when we feel temptations of the flesh, we should run to the side of our Mother in Heaven, by realizing how she is to us, and by means of aspirations. She will defend us and lead us to the light.”
    St. Josemaría Escrivá

    “A man wanted to do evil, but first prayed as usual; and finding himself prevented by God, he was then extremely thankful.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

    “It is impossible for the mind not to be approached by thoughts, but it is in the power of every earnest man either to admit them or to reject them. As then their rising up does not entirely depend on ourselves, so the rejection or admission of them lies in our own power.”
    St. Moses of Ethiopia

    “Help yourself during this troubled period by reading holy books. This reading provides excellent food for the soul and conduces to great progress along the path of perfection. By no means is it inferior to what we obtain through prayer and holy meditation. In prayer and meditation it is ourselves who speak to the Lord, while in holy reading it is God who speaks to us. Before beginning to read, raise your mind to the Lord and implore Him to guide your mind Himself, to speak to your heart and move your will.”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “The devil will try to upset you by accusing you of being unworthy of the blessings that you have received. Simply remain cheerful and do your best to ignore the devil's nagging. If need be even laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Satan, the epitome of sin itself, accuses you of unworthiness! When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future!”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind that sets bounds to the passions.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Comfort in tribulation can be secured only on the sure ground of faith holding as true the words of Scripture and the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
    St. Thomas More

    “Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be.”
    St. Thomas More

  • toleranceOpen or Close

    “There is no subject on which the average mind is so much confused as the subject of tolerance and intolerance. Tolerance applies only to persons, but never to principles. Intolerance applies only to principles, but never to persons.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “If I only sat down with people who agreed with me, and I with them, or with those who were saints, I’d be taking all my meals alone.”
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan

    “The risk of indifference, which is the hallmark of contemporary society, is to ignore, to remain inert.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Neither I nor anyone in the Church would ever tolerate hatred of or prejudice towards any of the Lord's children.”
    Cardinal Timothy Dolan

    “As for ourselves, yes, we must be meek, bear injustice, malice, rash judgment. We must turn the other cheek, give up our cloak, go a second mile.”
    dorothy day

    “Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”
    Thomas à Kempis

    “If you're not a thorn in somebody's side, you aren't doing Christianity right.”
    Mother Angelica

    “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “It is the custom of the Roman Church which I unworthily serve with the help of God, to tolerate some things, to turn a blind eye to some, following the spirit of discretion rather than the rigid letter of the law.”
    Pope St. Gregory VII

    “Do not be suspicious of your brother, for you will lose purity of heart!”
    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

    “When you feel the assaults of passion and anger, then is the time to be silent as Jesus was silent in the midst of His ignominies and sufferings.”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, in spite of his present weakness.”
    St. Thomas of Villanova

  • TraditionOpen or Close

    “There is a problem here — an injustice, really — in the way that some people are so often identified by what they are against. Opposition to same-sex marriage is a natural consequence of what we are for, i.e., preserving the traditional, natural understanding of marriage in the culture and in the law.”
    Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

    “The Catholic faith never changes. But the language and mode of manifesting this one faith can change according to peoples, times and places.”
    Cardinal Francis Arinze

    “You can't take a living reality, the worship of God as God has desired that we worship Him, and tamper with it without doing violence and without in some way damaging the faith life of the people.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”
    Cardinal Raymond Burke

    “The Church is not an institution devised and built at table, but a living reality. She lives along the course of time by transforming Herself, like any living being, yet Her nature remains the same. At Her heart is Christ.”
    Fr. Romano Guardini

    “I have neither permitted, nor shall I permit, the things which have been settled by the holy fathers to be violated by any innovation.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Teach nothing new, but implant in the hearts of everyone those things which the fathers of venerable memory taught with a uniform preaching ... Whence, we preach nothing except what we have received from our forefathers. In all things, therefore, both in the rule of faith in the observance of discipline, let the pattern of antiquity be observed.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “The faith by which we live shall never vary in any age . . . for one is the faith which sanctifies the Just of all ages.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “A great safeguard is the entire faith, the true faith, in which neither anything whatever can be added by anyone nor anything taken away; for, unless faith be one, it is not the faith.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “I accept with sincere belief the doctrine of faith as handed down to us from the Apostles by the orthodox Fathers, always in the same sense and with the same interpretation.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators: they are traditionalists.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “New revelations regarding faith or morals ... have always been abhorred and challenged in the Church ... Hence, the Sovereign Pontiffs, the Councils, and the Fathers have been most careful to reject all novelties or new doctrines on matters of faith which differed from those already received.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “We do not innovate anything...How is it that novelties are introduced which were never even thought of by our predecessors?”
    St. Ambrose of Milan

    “But what is also to the point, let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles and preserved by the Fathers. On this the Church was founded; and if anyone departs from this, he neither is, nor any longer ought to be called, a Christian. ”
    St. Athanasius the Great

    “While the world changes, the cross stands firm”
    St. Bruno

    “The ancient doctrines must be confirmed, but novel and absurd inventions must be condemned and cast aside.”
    St. Cyril of Alexandria

    “It is needful also to make use of tradition, for not everything can be gotten from sacred Scripture. The holy apostles handed down some things in the scriptures, other things in tradition.”
    St. Epiphanius of Salamis

    “Fly to the Catholic Church! Adhere to the only faith which continues to exist from the beginning, that faith which was preached by Paul and is upheld by the Chair of Peter.”
    St. Hippolytus

    “The preaching of the Church truly continues without change and is everywhere the same. It has the testimony of the Prophets and Apostles and all their disciples.”
    St. Irenaeus

    “Any innovation in matters of faith is extremely pernicious and utterly damnable!”
    St. John Eudes

    “Whosoever you are who introduce new doctrines, I beseech you to spare the ears of Romans! Spare that faith which was commended by the voice of an Apostle. Why should you attempt to teach us, at the end of hundreds of years, that which we never heard before? Why bring forward what Peter and Paul did not will to make known? Until this day, the world was Christian without your doctrine. Thus, I hold as an old man onto that faith wherein I was regenerated as a boy.”
    St. Jerome

    “All novelty in faith is a sure mark of heresy.”
    St. Vincent of Lerins

    “I cannot sufficiently be astonished that such is the insanity of some men, such the impiety of their blinded understanding, such, finally, their lust after error, that they will not be content with the rule of faith delivered once and for all from antiquity, but must daily seek after something new, and even newer still, and are always longing to add something to religion, or to change it, or to subtract from it!”
    St. Vincent of Lerins

    “Avoid the profane novelty of words," St. Paul says (I Timothy 6:20) ... For if novelty is to be avoided, antiquity is to be held tight to; and if novelty is profane, antiquity is sacred.”
    tradition

    “What shall a Catholic do if some portion of the Church detaches itself from communion of the universal Faith? What other choice can he make if some new contagion attempts to poison, no longer a small part of the Church, but the whole Church at once, then his great concern will be to attach himself to antiquity (Tradition) which can no longer be led astray by any lying novelty.”
    St. Vincent of Lerins

  • trustOpen or Close

    “Regarding Christianity, ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “From Mary we learn to surrender to God's will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust when all hope is gone. From Mary we learn to trust her Son and Christ the Son of God.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “We are at Jesus’ disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that’s all right, everything is all right. We must say, 'I belong to you. You can do whatever you like.' And this is our strength. This is the joy of the Lord.”
    Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

    “Never question God's dealings with you. Respect God's work in your soul with silence.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “As faithful witnesses of Jesus we have to trust that our lives too will be fruitful, even though we cannot see their fruit. The fruit of our lives may be visible only to those who live after us. What is important is how well we love. God will make our love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “I'm not afraid to fail…I'm scared to death of dying and having the Lord say to me, 'Angelica, this is what you might have done had you trusted more.”
    Mother Angelica

    “We must carry Jesus in our hearts to wherever He wants to go, and there are many places to which He may never go unless we take Him to them. None of us knows when the loveliest hour of our life is striking. It may be when we take Christ for the first time to that grey office in the city where we work, to the wretched lodging of that poor man who is an outcast, to the nursery of that pampered child, to that battleship, airfield, or camp..”
    caryll houselander

    “I feel so persuaded, O my God, that You graciously watch over those who hope in Thee, and that no one need require anything so long as they look up to Thee in all things, that I am determined for the future to lay at Your feet, all my anxieties and troubles.”
    St. Claude de la Colombiere

    “Whoever surrenders unconditionally to the Lord will be chosen by him as an instrument for building his kingdom.”
    st. edith stein

    “Quietly to trust in God is better than trying to safeguard material interests: I learned that by bitter experience.”
    St. Emily de Vialar

    “Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow. Then same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.”
    St. Francis de Sales

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

    “We shall steer safely through every storm so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God.”
    st. francis de sales

    “Our Goal is God, the source of all good. As we say in our prayer, we are to place our trust in God and in no one else. In his kindness, our Lord wished to strengthen your faith, for without it, as the evangelist points out, Christ could not have performed many of his miracles. He also wished to listen to your prayer, and so he ordained that you experience poverty, distress, abandonment, weariness and scorn.”
    St. Jerome Emiliani

    “I place trust in God, my creator, in all things; I love Him with all my heart.”
    St. Joan of Arc

    “If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.”
    St. John of the Cross

    “Pray with great confidence, with confidence based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.”
    St. Louis de Montfort

    “How good it is to trust God! Turn to Him often, as children look to their father and mother in their needs.”
    St. Louise de Marillac

    “What has a person to fear who lives in the arms and bosom of God?”
    St. Paul of the Cross

    “Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All thing pass; God never changes. Patience attains all that it strives for. He who has God finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices.”
    st. teresa of avila

  • truthOpen or Close

    “Truth has nothing to do with the number of people it convinces.”
    Paul Claudel

    “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
    c.s. lewis

    “Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not... We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.”
    cardinal john henry newman

    “The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “Truth is stranger than fiction because we create fiction to suit our fancy.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “The modern mind will accept nothing on authority, but will accept anything on no authority. Say that the Bible or the Pope says so and it will be dismissed without further examination. But preface your remark with 'I think I heard somewhere,' or, try but fail to remember the name of some professor who might have said 'such-and-such,' and it will be immediately accepted as an unshakable fact.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.”
    Thomas Merton

    “Simplicity is the seal of verity.”
    Dietrich von Hildebrand

    “Truth is power, but only when one has patience and requires of it no immediate effect. And one must have no specific aims. Somehow, lack of an agenda is the greatest power. Sometimes it is better not to think in terms of plans; here months may mean nothing, and also years. Truth must be sought for its own sake, its holy, divine greatness.”
    Fr. Romano Guardini

    “Our duty as Catholics is to know the truth; to live the truth; to defend the truth; to share the truth with others; and to suffer for the truth.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “When Christians refuse to bow down before false gods proposed today, it is not because of an antiquated worldview. Rather, it is because they are free from the constraints of ideology and inspired by such a noble vision of human destiny that they cannot collude with anything that undermines it.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “But there is no true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth.”
    Pope Francis

    “The truth is not always the same as the majority decision.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “The devil is always discovering something novel against the truth.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Truth, which is simple and one, admits of no variety.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “The Church alone, being the Bride of Christ and having all things in common with her Divine Spouse, is the depository of the truth.”
    Pope St. Pius X

    “The Catholic faith alone produces miracles, which are never seen among heretics. Plants of this sort cannot grow in a soil cursed by God; they can only take root in that Church where the True Faith is professed ... God cannot sanction the performance of a miracle except in favour of the true religion; were He to permit it in support of error, He would deceive us.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”
    St. Augustine

    “The truth is like a lion. You don't have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.”
    St. Augustine

    “You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin,... he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate... he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “We should always be disposed to believe that that which appears white is really black, if the hierarchy of the Church so decides.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?”
    St. Maximilian Kolbe

    “Hence we must say that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. But he does not need a new light added to his natural light, in order to know the truth in all things, but only in some that surpasses his natural knowledge.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  • virtueOpen or Close

    “I am worried about America! I am not so much worried about its politics and economics, important though they be: I am worried about its soul. After all, politics and economics are determined by the sense of values which underlies them.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “The whole of the goodness of creation is found perfectly in Christ Jesus.”
    Archbishop Allen Vigneron

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

    “Virtue is its own reward, and brings with it the truest and highest pleasure; but if we cultivate it only for pleasure's sake, we are selfish, not religious, and will never gain the pleasure, because we can never have the virtue.”
    Cardinal John Henry Newman

    “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure...are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”
    Charles Carroll

    “In improving your mind, remember your God. The fear of the Lord, says the wise man, is the beginning of wisdom; without virtue there can be no happiness; and without religion, no virtue; consider yourself as always in the presence of the Almighty.”
    Charles Carroll

    “God grant that religious liberty may be preserved in these (United) states to the end of time, and that all who believe in the religion of Christ may practice the leading principle of charity, the basis of every other virtue.”
    Charles Carroll

    ==========

    “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”
    c.s. lewis

    “The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice.”
    g.k. chesterton

    “It has been my experience that nothing changes a person’s life more than the discovery of one solitary truth: There is a meaning and purpose to life. More specifically: There is a meaning and purpose to your life.”
    matthew kelly

    “A great purposelessness has descended upon modern civilizations. People at large have lost any sense of the meaning and purpose of life; and without an understanding of our own purpose, there can be no true commitment. Whether that commitment is to marriage, family, study, work, God, relationships, or the simple resolutions of our lives, it will be almost impossible to fulfill without a clear and practical understanding of our purpose. Commitment and purpose go hand in hand.”
    matthew kelly

    “The happiest people on earth, hear it, are the holiest people. The most unhappy are the most sinful.”
    Fr. John Hardon

    “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “From now on it is only through a conscious choice and through a deliberate policy that humanity can survive.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The work of art, just like any fragment of human life considered in its deepest meaning, seems to me devoid of value if it does not offer the hardness, the rigidity, the regularity, the luster on every interior and exterior facet, of the crystal.”
    pope paul vi

    “The Holy Spirit gives wisdom against folly, understanding against dullness, counsel against rashness, fortitude against fears, knowledge against ignorance, piety against hardness of our heart, and fear against pride.”
    pope st. gregory i

    “What is God’s altar if not the soul of those who lead good lives? Rightly then, the heart of the just is said to be the altar of God.”
    pope st. gregory i

    “Virtue is nothing without the trial of temptation, for there is no conflict without an enemy, no victory without strife.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Christ made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve.”
    St. Agnes of Rome

    “True, He is infinite Majesty, but He is also infinite Goodness and infinite Love. There can be no greater Lord than God; neither can there be a more ardent lover than He.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri

    “Three things are necessary to everyone regardless of status, sex, or age, i.e., truth of faith which brings understanding; love of Christ which brings compassion; endurance of hope which brings perseverance. No adult is in state of salvation unless he has faithful understanding in his mind, loving compassion in his heart, and enduring perseverance in his actions.”
    St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

    “I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all parts. I would like myself to be a rent payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity.”
    St. Brigid of Kildare

    “If it were given to a man to see virtue's reward in the next world, he would occupy his intellect, memory and will in nothing but good works, careless of danger or fatigue.”
    St. Catherine of Genoa

    “It remains for us to pray the Lord, of His great goodness and by the intercession of this glorious Seraphin, to give us His love abundantly, that we may not cease to grow in virtue, and may at last win to eternal beatitude with God who lives and reigns for ever and ever.”
    St. Catherine of Genoa

    “When gold has been purified up to twenty-four carats, it can no longer be consumed by any fire; not gold itself but only dross can be burnt away. Thus the divine fire works in the soul: God holds the soul in the fire until its every imperfection is burnt away and it is brought to perfection, as it were to the purity of twenty-four carats, each soul however according to its own degree. When the soul has been purified it stays wholly in God, having nothing of self in it; its being is in God who has led this cleansed soul to Himself; it can suffer no more for nothing is left in it to be burnt away; were it held in the fire when it has thus been cleansed, it would feel no pain. Rather the fire of divine love would be to it like eternal life and in no way contrary to it.”
    St. Catherine of Genoa

    “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire. Let the truth be your delight...proclaim it...but with a certain congeniality.”
    St. Catherine of Siena

    “Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.”
    St. Francis of Assisi

    “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.”
    st. francis of assisi

    “Christian perfection has but one limit, that of having none.”
    St. Gregory of Nyssa

    “If by a diligent life of virtue, you wash away the film of dirt that covers your heart, then the divine beauty will shine forth in you.”
    St. Gregory of Nyssa

    “After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “Do not let any occasion of gaining merit pass without taking care to draw some spiritual profit from it; as, for example, from a sharp word which someone may say to you; from an act of obedience imposed against your will; from an opportunity which may occur to humble yourself, or to practice charity, sweetness, and patience. All of these occasions are gain for you, and you should seek to procure them; and at the close of that day, when the greatest number of them have come to you, you should go to rest most cheerful and pleased, as the merchant does on the day when he had had most chance for making money; for on that day business has prospered with him.”
    St. Ignatius of Loyola

    “Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works.
    If you see a poor man, take pity on him.
    If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him.

    Do not let only your mouth fast,
    but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands
    and all the members of our bodies.

    Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice.
    Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.
    Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful.
    Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip.
    Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.

    For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes, but bite and devour our brothers?

    May He who came to the world to save sinners, strengthen us to complete the fast with humility! Have mercy on us and save us.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “The Christian life is a continuation and completion of the life of Christ in us. We should be so many Christs here on earth, continuing His life and His works, laboring and suffering in a holy and divine manner in the spirit of Jesus.”
    St. John Eudes

    “I would rather die than do a thing which I know to be a sin or against the will of God.”
    st. joan of arc

    “Holy Purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh.”
    St. John Bosco

    “Here is a rule for everyday life: do not do anything which you cannot offer to God.”
    St. John Vianney

    “You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions.”
    St. John Vianney

    “Henceforth, ye Greeks, come and partake of incomparable wisdom, and be instructed by the Divine Word, and acquaint yourselves with the King immortal; and do not recognize those men as heroes who slaughter whole nations. For our own Ruler, the Divine Word, who even now constantly aids us, does not desire strength of body and beauty of feature, nor yet the high spirit of earth’s nobility, but a pure soul, fortified by holiness, and the watchwords of our King, holy actions, for through the Word power passes into the soul.”
    St. Justin

    “God does not ask of us the perfection of tomorrow, nor even of tonight, but only of the present moment.”
    St. Madeline Sophie Barat

    “Faith consists not only of being baptized in Christ, but also in fulfilling His commandments. Holy Baptism is perfect and gives us perfection, but does not make perfect those who do not follow the commandments.”
    St. Mark the Ascetic

    “Good example is the most efficacious apostolate. You must be as lighted lanterns and shine like brilliant chandeliers among men. By your good example and your words, animate others to know and love God.”
    St. Mary Joseph Rosello

    “Do good everywhere, so that everyone can say:'this is a son of Christ.'”
    St. Pio of Pietrelcino

    “Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate and do not punish or condemn anyone immoderately. Be gentle so that you may never oppose justice. Be honorable so that you may never voluntarily bring disgrace upon anyone. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness of lust like the pangs of death.”
    St. Stephen of Hungary

    “Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “God aids the valiant...both to you and to me He will give the help needed.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Our Lord needs from us neither great deeds nor profound thoughts. Neither intelligence nor talents. He cherishes simplicity.”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

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

    “Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.”
    St. Thomas Aquinas

    “Nothing can come but that that God wills. And I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, seem it never so bad in sight, it shall indeed be the best.”
    St. Thomas More

    “Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity.”
    st. vincent de paul

  • vocationOpen or Close

    “You will know your vocation by the joy that it brings you. You will know. You will know when it's right.”
    Dorothy Day

    “We have gone from a world in which women and girls were told they cannot succeed out of the home to a world in which they are told they can't succeed outside of the home without abortion. But women do not need abortion to succeed.”
    Jeanneane Maxon

    “The abortion industry has allowed women to be harmed physically, mentally and socially by telling them to deny their true potential and insisting they choose either work or family, because they'll never succeed at both.”
    Jeanneane Maxon

    “When it comes to politics, economics and social policy, the main duty of a bishop is to preach basic principles. Sometimes, on some pivotal issues, bishops need to be more engaged in the details of legislation. But, overall, Catholic witness in the secular world should be the work of prudent, faithful laypeople.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “If laypeople don’t love their Catholic faith enough to struggle for it in the public square, nothing the bishops do will finally matter.”
    Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

    “From my perspective... I will accomplish in death what I could not in life because as priests we are most fully alive when we die. If we don’t feel that way, we certainly have not served the cause of Christ as we were meant to. In the final spiritual analysis, to fulfill the will of God, a priest must die in life as did his own Son. And when that time comes, with the grace of God, I am ready.”
    Archbishop Philip Hannan

    “The priest is a fragile person with his baggage of guilt and misery that await God's forgiveness and conversion.”
    Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi

    “Today our (Society of Jesus) prime educational objective must be to form men (and women) for others; men (and women) who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ — for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men (and women) who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men (and women) completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.”
    Fr. Pedro Arrupe

    “It is very important to realize that our vocation is hidden in where we are and who we are. We are unique human beings, each with a call to realize in life what nobody else can, and to realize it in the concrete context of the here and now.”
    Fr. Henri Nouwen

    “Chaplains and their collaborators are called to be heralds of God's infinite compassion and forgiveness.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The fact that the Church is convinced of not having the right to confer priestly ordination on women is now considered by some as irreconcilable with the European Constitution.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “The new pope knows that his task is to make the light of Christ shine before men and women of world — not his own light, but that of Christ.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Joseph is a 'protector' because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”
    Pope Francis

    “The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church, a duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “You are priests, not social or political leaders. Let us not be under the illusion that we are serving the Gospel through an exaggerated interest in the wide field of temporal problems.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “For all, regenerated in Christ, as made kings by the sign of the cross. They are consecrated priests by the oil of the Holy Spirit, so that beyond the special service of our ministry as priests, all spiritual and mature Christians know that they are a royal race and are sharers in the office of the priesthood.”
    Pope St. Leo the Great

    “Those who are called to the eremetical life must have a happy soul, for nothing is more destructive than sadness.”
    St. Bruno

    “Those who join the Carmelite Order are not lost to their near and dear ones, but have been won for them, because it is our vocation to intercede to God for everyone.”
    st. edith stein

    “One could say that in case of need, every normal and healthy woman is able to hold a position. And there is no profession which cannot be practiced by a woman.”
    st. edith stein

    “I find my happiness in pastoral work. It is for this that I am a bishop, and not to write books, still less to pay court to the great, or to waste my time among the rich. It is true...that this is not the way to become a cardinal, but if one could become a saint, would it not be better still?”
    St. Eugene de Mazenod

    “Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
    St. Ignatius of Antioch

    “Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did (God) not give them all the powers of heaven?..What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men. They are raised to this dignity as if they were already gathered up to heaven.”
    St. John Chrysostom

    “The most evident mark of God's anger and the most terrible castigation He can inflict upon the world are manifested when He permits His people to fall into the hands of clergy who are priests more in name than in deed, priests who practice the cruelty of ravening wolves rather than the charity and affection of devoted shepherds. Instead of nourishing those committed to their care, they rend and devour them brutally. Instead of leading their people to God, they drag Christian souls into hell in their train. Instead of being the salt of the earth and the light of the world, they are its innocuous poison and its murky darkness.”
    St. John Eudes

    “All religious are under an obligation, in accordance with the particular vocation of each, to work zealously and diligently for the building up and growth of the whole mystical body of Christ and for the good of the particular churches. It is their duty to foster these objectives primarily by means of prayer, works of penance, and by the example of their own lives.”
    St. Scholastica

    “Take God for your spouse and friend and walk with Him continually, and you will not sin, will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “Do not dismayed daughters, at the number of things which you have to consider before setting out on this divine journey, which is the royal road to heaven. By taking this road we gain such precious treasures that it is no wonder if the cost seems to us a high one. The time will come when we shall realize that all we have paid has been nothing at all by comparison with the greatness of our prizes.”
    St. Teresa of Avila

    “I feel in me the vocation of the Priest. I have the vocation of the Apostle. Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that the Church had a Heart and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was eternal! Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love...my vocation, at last I have found it...My vocation is Love!”
    St. Therese of Lisieux

  • warOpen or Close

    “Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill'. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders. The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. ...In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression.”
    Archbishop Oscar Romero

    “An idea which needs rifles to survive dies of its own accord.”
    Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko

    “War is a defeat for humanity.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Wars generally do not resolve the problems for which they are fought and therefore... prove ultimately futile.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “War should belong to the tragic past, to history: it should find no place on humanity’s agenda for the future.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it.”
    Blessed Pope John Paul II

    “No more war! Never again war! If you wish to be brothers, drop your weapons.”
    pope paul vi

  • worshipOpen or Close

    “If we were invited to a talk given by our favorite athlete or author, we'd make sure we didn't miss a word. Yet when the Lord comes to us in the power of the Holy Spirit to speak to us in the words of eternal life, we find ourselves a few blocks away from church, perhaps with music or news bombarding our senses.”
    Archbishop William E. Lori

    “If you do not worship God, you worship something, and nine times out of ten it will be yourself. You have a duty to worship God, not because He will be imperfect and unhappy if you do not, but because you will be imperfect and unhappy.”
    Archbishop Fulton Sheen

    “It is sad that those who worship idols sacrifice other people while preserving themselves and their interests. How many factory workers are being denied the right wages for the god of profit? How many women are being sacrificed to the god of domination? How many children are being sacrificed to the god of lust? How many trees, rivers, hills are being sacrificed to the god of 'progress'? How many poor people are being sacrificed to the god of greed? How many defenseless people are being sacrificed to the god of national security?”
    Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

    “On entering a church, or in passing before the altar, kneel down all the way without haste or hurry, putting your heart into what you do, and let your whole attitude say, Thou art the great God. It is an act of humility, an act of truth, and everytime you kneel it will do your soul good.”
    Fr. Romano Guardini

    “Let us follow the star of inspiration and divine attraction, which calls us to the crib, and let us go thither to adore and love the child Jesus and offer ourselves to him.”
    St. Jane Frances De Chantal

    “Kneeling before the tabernacle, I can think of only one thing to say to our Lord: 'My God, you know that I love You.' And I feel that my prayer does not weary Jesus; knowing my weakness, He is satisfied with my good will.”
    St. Therese of Lisieuxp

  • wrathOpen or Close

    “He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.”
    J.R.R. Tolkien

    “Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not... with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”
    Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

    “Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men.”
    blessed pope john paul ii

    “Anger is as a stone cast into a wasp's nest.”
    Pope Paul VI

    “When we have to reply to anyone who has insulted us, we should be careful to do it always with gentleness. A soft answer extinguishes the fire of wrath.”
    St. Alphonsus Ligouri