THE SAINTS SPEAK-ARCHIVE 2012-2013

[Dawn Marie]

THE SAINTS SPEAK ARCHIVES

 

[Dawn Marie]

'Do not be double-tongued, saying one thing when your conscience says another. For Scripture places such people under a curse (cf. Ecclus. 28:13).'

St. Mark the Ascetic

'The King of Heaven deigned to be born in a stable, because He came to destroy pride, the cause of man's ruin.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

'Beginners in the service of God sometimes lose confidence when they fall into any fault. When you feel so unworthy a sentiment rising within you, you must lift your heart to God and consider that all your faults, compared with divine goodness, are less than a bit of oakum thrown into a sea of fire.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Dawn Marie]

'This earth is not our country; it is for us a place of passage, from which we shall soon go to the house of eternity. . . The house, then, dear reader, which you inhabit, is not your house; it is a hospital, from which you will soon, and when you least expect, be dislodged. . .'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

'A depraved mind thinks evil thoughts and regards as defects the achievements of a neighbor.'

St. Thalassios

'Understand that the mercy of the Saviour is so measureless that it accepts the least ill, the smallest trouble, in payment for the most disquieting of your debts. Nothing, not even a headache, is lost. If God did not afflict you, you would persist in being insolvent till the hour of your death; acquit yourself then whilst you are able, and do not grudge that pain which alone is able to restrain your instincts of self-indulgence, to break your pride, to soften the hardness of your hearts.'

St. Lydwine of Schiedam

[Dawn Marie]

'For what man, who cares nothing about being put to shame, entertains thoughts of self-esteem? Or who welcomes contempt and yet is disturbed by dishonor? And who has "a broken and a contrite heart" (Ps. 51:17) and yet indulges in carnal pleasure? Or who puts his trust in Christ and yet worries or quarrels about transitory things?'

St. Mark the Ascetic

'Practice abandonment as regards your body, taking and accepting indifferently sickness or health, work or rest -- abandonment as regards your soul, cherishing dryness, insensibility, desolation, and accepting them with the same thanksgiving as you would sweetness and consolation.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

'In all your trials, arm yourself with faith, confidence in God, and deep humility of heart. Reiterate your commands to Satan; order him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to depart and betake himself to the place that God, on account of his pride, has assigned for him. Fear nothing.'

St. Paul of the Cross

[Dawn Marie]

'In all your afflictions and interior desolations make frequent acts of total abandonment to the will of God. Recite the chaplet which St. Gertrude composed of these words only: Fiat voluntas tua - "May Thy will be done." At other times say, with sentiments of perfect conformity to the divine will, "Thou art just, O Lord! and all Thy judgments are just, and all Thy ways are mercy, and truth, and judgment." (Tobias iii. 2.)'

St. Paul of the Cross

'There is no surer or clearer proof of the love of God than adversity.'

St. Philip Neri

'Half an hour's meditation is essential except when you are very busy. Then a full hour is needed.'

St. Francis de Sales

[Dawn Marie]

'Poor child! How imperfect you are! How much you need others to keep a constant guard over thee. Oh, how much patience I must have with thee.'

The Guardian Angel of St. Gemma Galgani

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Grow in virtue, in order that the sanctity of this House may last forever, passing on its good traditions to those who come after you. Love one another that charity may be the bond at all times uniting you to all in Jesus Christ.'

St. Artold the Carthusian

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Since God is absolute existence, absolute goodness and absolute wisdom, or rather, to put it more exactly, since God is beyond all such things, there is nothing whatsoever that is opposite to Him. Creatures, on the other hand, all exist through participation and grace, while those endowed with intelligence and intellect also have a capacity for goodness and wisdom. Hence they do have opposites. As the opposite to existence they have non-existence, and as the opposite to the capacity for goodness and wisdom they have evil and ignorance. Whether or not they are to exist eternally lies Within the power of their Maker. But whether or not intelligent creatures are to participate in His goodness and wisdom depends on their own will.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Dawn Marie]

'He that rises after his falls, with confidence in God and profound humility of heart, will become, in God's hands, a proper instrument for the accomplishment of great things; but he who acts otherwise can never do any good.'

St. Paul of the Cross

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Alas, my friend. We cannot be together in Heaven unless we have begun to live so in this world. Death makes no change in that. As the tree falls, so shall it lie. . . Jesus Christ said . . . "He that does not hear the Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican." And he also said, "There shall be one fold and one shepherd," and He made St. Peter the chief shepherd of His flock. My dear friend, there are not two ways of serving Jesus Christ. There is only one good way, and that is to serve Him as He Himself desires to be served.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'We must not trust in ourselves, but take the advice of our spiritual father, and recommend ourselves to everybody's prayers.'

St. Philip Neri

[Dawn Marie]

'Escape from temptation through patience and prayer. If you oppose temptation without these, it only attacks you more strongly.'

St. Mark the Ascetic

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'The soul is a seed which God sows in the field of the Church; to produce fruits, it must die under the strokes of pains, sorrows, contradictions, and persecutions.'

St. Paul of the Cross

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'The person who loves God cannot help loving every man as himself, even though he is grieved by the passions of those who are not yet purified. But when they amend their lives, his delight is indescribable and knows no bounds.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

[Dawn Marie]

'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. . . If we are, in fact, now occupied in good deeds, we should not attribute the strength with which we are doing them to ourselves. We must not count on ourselves, because even if we know what kind of person we are today, we do not know what we will be tomorrow. Nobody must rejoice in the security of their own good deeds. As long as we are still experiencing the uncertainties of this life, we do not know what end may follow. . . we must not trust in our own virtues.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'The soul, once in paradise, will be transformed into God, and God will be all in the soul, in such a manner that the soul will be, as it were, deified. Cast a drop of sweet water into the sea: it will be so absorbed that we can no longer distinguish it. So in heaven the beatified spirit, which is immersed in the immense ocean of the Divinity, is in a certain sense deified by being united, through love, to God.'

St. Paul of the Cross

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'This strong insistence of grace that you feel amid so many relapses is, to my mind, a very good sign, because it shows the ardent desire that God has to save your soul; this, nevertheless, He will not do without your cooperation.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

[Dawn Marie]

'The soul that God would draw by means of prayer to a very close union with Himself ought, even in prayer, to pass by the way of suffering, of suffering divested of all consolation, the soul, in a certain sense, knowing not where she is; nevertheless, she understands, by the light infused into her from above, that she is always in the arms of her heavenly Spouse, sustained with the milk of His divine love.'

St. Paul of the Cross

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'St. Denis the Areopagite says, "Divine love consists in the affections of the heart more than in the knowledge of the understanding." In human sciences, knowledge excites love; but in the science of the saints, love produces knowledge. He that loves God most, knows him best. Besides, it is not lofty and fruitless conceptions, but works, that unite the soul to God, and make it rich in merits before the Lord.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Every moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on and plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it.'

St. Francis de Sales

[Dawn Marie]

'Sometimes men are tested by pleasure, sometimes by distress or by physical suffering. By means of His prescriptions the Physician of souls administers the remedy according to the cause of the passions lying hidden in the soul.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'A mind from which the thought of God has been carried away and which has thus become far removed from remembering Him, is also indifferent to sin with the outer senses. For such a mind can guide neither the hearing nor the tongue, since zest to work on itself has gone out of it.

St. Nilus of Sinai

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Be devout to the Madonna, keep yourself from sin, and God will deliver you from your evils.'

St. Philip Neri