Be not vexed over evildoers, nor jealous of those who do wrong.
Ps 36:1
Anger, brothers, is an ambiguous matter, it is made bad by the way it is used, and not by its nature, it is very bad when it is conceived out of hatred, it is wicked when it is produced out of rage, its is very good when it comes from love, and when disciplining another demands it.
St Peter Chrysologus
O dearest daughter, grieve that I am so offended, and weep over these dead so that your prayer may destroy their death!
They become unbearable to themselves. They who wanted to rule the world find themselves ruled by nothingness, that is, by sin – for sin is the opposite of being, and they have become servants and slaves of sin. I made them trees of love through the life of grace, which they received in holy baptism. But they have become trees of death, because they are dead.
The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena
St. Cyril also, writing to St. Augustine, says that one of the three men who were raised from the dead told him: “As the hour of my departure drew nigh, a multitude of devils, countless in number, came and stood about me. Their forms were more horrible than anything imagination can conceive. One would rather be burnt in the fire than be compelled to look upon them. These demons ranged themselves around me, and reproached me with all the misdeeds I had ever done, thinking to drive me to despair. And in fact I should have given way before them, had not God in His mercy come to my succour.”
The Four Last Things (Fr Martin von Cochem)
The sinner’s greatest torment will be the fear of what is to come. He knows that in a few hours he will pass from time into eternity. He knows that if he is not in the state of grace, an eternity of punishment awaits him. And not only does he know that he is not in the state of grace, not only does his soul bear witness that he is no longer a child of God and an heir to the kingdom of heaven, but he feels the visible marks of his reprobation in the multitude and gravity of his crimes, in the hardness of his heart, in the troubles of his conscience, in his distrust in the mercy of God and in his despair which overwhelms him. Ask yourself whether you desire to die the death of the sinner.
Fr François Nepveu, S.J.
Who are you, then, that you should be afraid of mortal man? Today he is here, tomorrow he is not seen. Fear God and you will not be afraid of the terrors of men. What can anyone do to you by word or injury? He hurts himself rather than you, and no matter who he may be he cannot escape the judgment of God.
The Imitation of Christ
Thou sayest that thou wilt not allow a week to pass without confession. But who promises thee this week? Thou sayest that thou wilt confess tomorrow. But who promises thee tomorrow? S. Augustine writes thus God has not promised to give thee tomorrow, perhaps He will give it to thee, and perhaps He will refuse to give it to thee; even as He has denied it to so many, who at night have gone to bed alive, and in the morning have been found dead.
St Alphonsus Liguori
