Quote/s of the Day – 5 March – Ash Wednesday
Prayer, Fasting and Mercy
“Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth,
where rust and moth consume
and where thieves break in and steal
but lay up for yourselves,
treasures in Heaven …”
Matthew 6:19-20
“Fasting is the soul of prayer,
mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.
Let no-one try to separate them;
they cannot be separated.
If you have only one of them,
or not all together, you have nothing.
So if you pray, fast;
if you fast, show mercy;
if you want your petition to be heard,
hear the petition of others.
If you do not close your ear to others
you open God’s ear to yourself!”
St Peter Chrysologus (c400-450)
Bishop of Ravenna
“Doctor of Homilies”
Father and Doctor of the Church
“Fasting is the death of sin,
the destruction of our crimes
and the remedy of our salvation.”
St Ambrose (340-397)
Father & Doctor of the Church
“For the devil may tempt the good
but he cannot find rest in them;
for he is shaken violently
and upset and driven out –
now by their prayers,
now by their tears of repentance
and now. by their almsgiving
and similar good works.”
St Bruno (c1030-1101)
“If a man finds it very difficult to forgive injuries,
let him look at a Crucifix
and think that Christ shed all His Blood for him
and not only forgave His enemies
but, even prayed His Heavenly Father,
to forgive them too.
Let him remember,
that when he says the Pater Noster, everyday,
instead of asking pardon for his sins,
he is calling down VENGEANCE UPON HIMSELF!”
St Philip Neri (1515-1595)
“The sacred gift of prayer
is already in the Right Hand of the Saviour;
as soon as ever you shall have emptied yourself of self,
He will pour it into your heart!”
(Letters to Persons in Religion III 19)
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis
“You must be reconciled to your enemies,
speak to them, as if they had never done you
anything but good, all your life,
keeping nothing in your heart but the charity,
which the good Christian should have, for everyone,
so that we may all appear with confidence,
before the tribunal of God.”
St John Vianney (1786-1859)
AnaStpaul 