Category: CATHOLIC Quotes

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 13 October – Understand what the will of the Lord is

Posted on by AnaStpaul

What is a Christian? He is one who has a particular relation with God the Father, whose son he becomes by baptism. What Jesus Christ is by nature, the Christian is by adoption, a son of God the Father. What is a Christian? He is one who has an essential relation with Jesus Christ of whom he is a member. What is a Christian? He is one who contracts by baptism a particular relation with the Holy Spirit, whose temple he is.

Fr François Nepveu

Never forget that the way which leads to heaven is narrow; that the gate leading to life is narrow and low; that there are but few who find it and enter by it; and if there be some who go in and tread the narrow path for some time, there are but very few who persevere therein.

St. Clare of Assisi

Vain is the man who puts his trust in men, in created things. Do not be ashamed to serve others for the love of Jesus Christ and to seem poor in this world. Do not be self-sufficient but place your trust in God. Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deeds, for God’s judgments differ from those of men and what pleases them often displeases Him.

The Imitation of Christ

No, saith God, “There is no peace unto the wicked.” In the first place, sin bears about with it the fear of Divine Justice. If any one has a powerful enemy, he can neither eat nor sleep in peace ; and he who has God for an enemy, how can he rest in peace? Besides this, sin bears about with it the remorse of conscience, which, like a cruel worm, is ever gnawing. The wretched sinner may seek amusement in various ways at the play, in the dance, at the banquet ; but his conscience is ever whispering to him, “Thou art at enmity with God; if thou shouldst die, whither wilt thou go?

St Alphonsus Liguori

All I want is love, In loving me you will realise love for your neighbours, and if you love your neighbour you have kept the law. If you are bound by this love you will do everything you can to be of service wherever you are.

The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena

For no matter how great may be men’s cleverness in concealing and their experience in lying, it is impossible to prevent the effects of any cause from showing, in some way, the intrinsic nature of the cause from which they come. Now, the Masonic sect produces fruits that are pernicious and of the bitterest savor.

Pope Leo XIII

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Quote/s of the Day – 12 October – The days are evil

Posted on by AnaStpaul

See to it that you walk with care: not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not become foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Eph 5:15-21

The Extreme Liberal is easily recognized; he does not attempt to deny or conceal his perversity. He is the declared enemy of the Pope, of priests, of everything ecclesiastical; a thing has only to be sacred to rouse his implacable wrath; “priestcraft” is his favorite shibboleth. The moderate Liberal is just as bad as his extreme confrere, but he takes good care not to appear so. The Catholic simply tainted with Liberalism is generally a good man and sincerely pious; he exhales nevertheless an odor of Liberalism in everything he says, writes, or takes up.

Liberalism is a Sin

Justice therefore forbids, and reason itself forbids, the State to be godless, or to adopt a line of action which would end in godlessness-namely, to treat the various religions (as they call them) alike, and to bestow on upon them promiscuously equal right and privileges.

Pope Leo XIII

Secular education: To gain the child is to secure the man. To educate a generation apart from God and the Church is to feed the fires of Liberalism to repletion. HERE IS THE REAL BATTLEGROUND BETWEEN FAITH AND INFIDELITY. HE WHO IS VICTOR HERE IS VICTOR EVERYWHERE.

Liberalism is a Sin

Not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honour and obedience to Christ.

Pope Pius XI

Freemasonry in Europe and South America are constantly seeking to bind the Church hand and foot, that she may be put at its satanic mercy. By open and secret means, this organization has sought to undermine her discipline in every country where it has obtained a footing. Between her and the people, it seeks to dig a deeper and deeper abyss of hate, prejudice and calumny. NATURALISM, THE DENIAL OF THE SUPERNATURAL, IT INCULCATES EVERYWHERE.

Liberalism is a Sin

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Quote/s of the Day – 10 October – St Francis Borgia

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thus, when the thought of doing a good action presents itself to our mind, if reason approves and the will agrees -because this action is conformable to the rules of Holy Scripture, and may contribute to the glory of God and the salvation of our neighbour-we should be extremely diligent in executing it, because it is certain that a man loses much when he neglects to perform the good which he can do, and that it would have been incomparably better not to have had the thought, than to have failed in accomplishing it, after having had it. It is for this reason that hell is said to be full of good intentions.

No more efficacious means exists of obtaining eternal salvation, than the performance of good works, in whatever state a man may be. If he is in sin, these aid him to repent; and if he is in grace, they help him to obtain from God the gift of perseverance.

While dressing in the morning.

  1. Enter into a profound sentiment of confusion, in considering that you are well clothed, and that Jesus Christ was fastened naked to a cross for love of you.
  2. Thank Him for having assumed our nature, although He knew at the time how ungrateful we should be for this favour; and also for having given us clothes to cover us, although we have so often despised the nuptial robe of grace, with which He clothed us. While dressing yourself, yon are performing one of the works of mercy, which is to clothe the naked: implore Him to accept this action, in consideration of the garment of ignominy with which He was covered in the palace of Herod.

On assisting at Mass.

  1. Reflect humbly with how little devotion you come to see and adore your God. Reproach yourself that the continuation of so great a benefit is the cause of the light esteem in which you hold it, instead of the cause, as it ought to be, of an increase in your respect and love; since God renders His favours so common only to make better known the great charity which He has for you.
  2. Thank Him for making you resemble the Angels each time you adore Him with true faith: for these blessed spirits are always employed in His presence, praising and glorifying Him unceasingly.
  3. Since this sacrifice is offered to God in memory of the sacrifice of Calvary, ask of Him, through the merits of His precious blood, the grace to cleanse yourself in it from all your sins, and to efface them by the abundance of your tears, that the old man may die within you and the new man live therein.

Alas! alas! the sinner who considers the enormity of his crimes, who knows how easy it is to fall at any moment into sin, and who sees how many less weak than himself have been damned for ever for having fallen but once, should indeed tremble for himself!

If each one of us will reflect what obligation he would owe to any one who had delivered him from hell after he had fallen into it, he will understand that he owes no less to God who has kept him from it by the preserving power of His grace. If we would often occupy ourselves with these thoughts, and with the thanksgiving which we owe to God for so inestimable a favour, we would feel, without doubt, our hearts penetrated with a saving confusion, and this confusion would be followed by an interior peace and consolation which the world cannot give.

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Quote/s of the Day – 9 October – The kingdom of God is at hand for you

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Even though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For our present light affliction, which is for the moment, prepares for us an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all measure; while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen.

2 Cor 4:15-18

St. Peter of Alcantara once visited a sick person who for a long time had endured a most painful illness with admirable patience. The saint, while sitting at the sufferer’s bedside, was rapt in ecstasy. Upon regaining consciousness, he turned to the sick man and exclaimed, ‘Oh, happy patient, God has shown and revealed to me how great a glory you have merited by your illness. You have merited more than others can gain by prayer, fasting, vigils, scourging, and other penitential exercises.

Words of Consolation for the Sick and Afflicted

When one loves the Cross, one is fearless to kiss it and even enjoys death.

Fr. Demaris (18th century)

St Bonaventure says, that those who make a point of announcing to others the glories of Mary are certain of heaven, and this opinion is confirmed by Richard of St Lawrence, who declares ‘that to honour this Queen of Angels is to gain eternal life’ and he adds, ‘that this most gracious Lady will honour in the next world those who honour her in this.’

St Alphonsus Liguori

Bona bonis mala malis (Good things to the good, bad things to the bad) Liber scriptvs proferetvr (A written book will be brought forth) Tempvs breve est (Time is short)

Undoubtedly the way of penance required by my commandments seems harsh and difficult to begin with, but the more it goes on the easier and sweeter it becomes, whereas the way of vice is pleasurable enough to begin with, but it becomes more and more bitter and painful as time goes on.

The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena

A single one who is perfect will do more than many who are not.

St Teresa of Avila

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Quote/s of the Day – 8 October – St Bridget of Sweden

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A golden hour was my conception, for then began the principle of the salvation of all, and darkness hastened to light.

When I was born, it was not unknown to the demons, but speaking by a certain similitude, they thus thought: “So a certain virgin is born, what shall we do? For it is evident that something wonderful is to take place in her. If we throw around her all the nets of our malice, she will burst them like tow. If we examine all her heart, it is defended by a strong garrison. There is no spot in her for a spear to touch. Therefore, we may fear lest her purity be our torture. Her grace will crush all our strength; her constancy prostrate us beneath her feet.”

But the friends of God, who were in long expectation, said by divine inspiration: “Why grieve we more? We should rather rejoice, for the light is born that is to dispel our darkness, and our desire shall be accomplished.” And the angels of God rejoiced, although their joy was always in the vision of God, saying: “Something desirable is born on earth, and especially beloved by God, whereby true peace will be restored to heaven and earth, and our losses shall be made up.”

And when he beheld me spent with grief, he was so afflicted by my pain, that all the pain of his own wounds, was, as it were, dulled at the sight of the grief in which he beheld me. Hence, I say boldly, that his pains were mine, because his heart was mine. For as Adam and Eve sold the world for an apple, so my Son and I redeemed the world, as it were, with one heart. Think, then, how I was at the death of my Son, and you will not find it hard to leave the world.

Much doth the world resemble a desert, with wild beasts, fruitless trees, and unclean waters; because man, like a wild beast, was eager to pour out his neighbour’s blood, unfruitful in works of justice, and unclean by incontinence and cupidity. In this wilderness, then, men sought the turbid well, — that is, the love of the world and its honor, which is high in pride, turbid in the care and solicitude of the flesh, — and by the seven mortal sins, had, as it were, entrance by seven ways.

Before I began to walk and labour, a voice resounded before me, saying: “The axe is laid to the tree.” What was this voice but John the Baptist, who, sent before me, cried out in the desert: “The axe is laid to the tree as if to say: “Man is now ready, because the axe is ready.” And he came, preparing the way to the city, and extirpating all obstacles.

I am she, who from eternity have been in the love of God.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 6 October – Be not vexed

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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

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Quote/s of the Day – 5 October – They made light of it

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But they made light of it, and went off, one to his farm, and another to his business; and the rest laid hold of his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

Matt 22:1-14

See then care utterable. He had planted a vineyard; He had done all things, and finished; when His servants had been put to death, He sent other servants; when those had been slain, He sent the son; and when He was put to death, He bids them to the marriage. They would not come. After this He sends other servants, and they slew these also. Then upon this He slays them, as being incurably diseased.

St John Chrysostom

We are hypocrites who serve God just as long as everything is going according to our wishes. Alas, my dear brethren, all of these virtues which we observe in a great many apparent Christians are but like the flowers of spring, which one gust of hot wind can wither.

St John Vianney

From our mutual love and your reverence for me you have thought that I should be consulted, dearest brother, as to my opinion concerning a certain actor, who, being settled among you, still persists in the discredit of the same art of his; and as a master and teacher, not for the instruction, but for the destruction of boys, that which he has unfortunately learned he also imparts to others: you ask whether such a one ought to communicate with us. This, I think, neither befits the divine majesty nor the discipline of the Gospel, that the modesty and credit of the Church should be polluted by so disgraceful and infamous a contagion.

St Cyprian

For what is more truly the beginning for a Christian than to believe in Christ? What end is better than to suffer for Christ?

St Augustine

We must certainly be extraordinarily blind because when all is said and done, there is not a single person who could say that he is ready to appear before Jesus Christ. Yet in spite of the fact that we are quite aware of this, there is still not one among us who will take a single step nearer to God. Dear Lord, how blind the sinner is! How pitiable is his lot! My dear children, let us not live like fools any longer, for at the moment when we least expect it, Jesus Christ will knock at our door. How happy then will be the person who has not been waiting until that very moment to prepare himself for Him. That is what I wish you to be.

St John Vianney

Wherefore also great is the punishment appointed for them that have been remiss. For as they did despite by not coming, so also thou by thus sitting down with a corrupt life. For to come in with filthy garments is this namely, to depart hence having one’s life impure; wherefore also he was speechless.

St John Chrysostom

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Quote/s of the Day – 4 October – St Francis

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See, then, you who are blind, decieved by your enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Yu have no good in this world and nothing to look forward to in the next.

We should all realise that no matter where or how a man dies, if he is in a state of mortal sin and does not repent, when he could have done so and did not, the devil tears his soul from his body with such anguish and distress that only a person who has experianced it can appreciate it. All the talent and ability, all the learning and wisdom which he thought his own, are taken away from him, while his friends and relatives bear off his property and share it among themselves.

Anyone who has this writing copied, so that it may be obeyed more widely, can be sure that he has God’s blessing and mine.

Remember your dignity, then, my friar-priests. In this mystery God has honoured you above all other human beings, and so you must love, revere and honour Him more than all others.

As I see it, you should consider everything that makes it difficult for you to love God as a special favour, even if other persons, whether friars or not, are responsible for it, or even if they go so far as to do you physical violence. This is the way you should want it to be, and you can take this as a command from God and from me.

Consider and realise that the day of death is approaching.

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Quote/s of the Day – 3 October – St Thérèse of Lisieux

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God taught me tht the only glory which matters is the glory which lasts forever and that one does not have to perform shining deeds to win that, but to hide one’s acts of virtue from others, and even from oneself.

I was sure that I was born to be great and began to wonder how I should set about winning my glory; then it was revealed to me in my heart that my glory would lie in becoming a Saint, though this glory would be hidden on earth.

We looked upon their high-sounding titles as nothing more than the ‘vapour of smoke’. I realised that real nobility is in the soul, not in a name.

The one who chose for love of God to be the poorest and most obscure on earth will be the first and the richest and most glorious in Heaven.

When we surrender to discouragement or despair, it is usually because we are thinking too much of the past or future.

It has come to this, that I can no longer suffer because all suffering is sweet.

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY and The HOLY ANGELS, QUOTES on ANGELS

Quotes of the Day – 2 October – Holy Guardian Angels

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In every lodging, at every corner,
have reverence for thy Angel.
Do not dare to do in his presence
what you would not dare to do, if I were there.
Or do you doubt that he is present
whom you do not behold?
What if you should hear him?
What if you should touch him?
What if you should scent him?
Remember, that the presence of something
is not proved only by the sight of things.

St Bernard

God is humanity’s
universal Teacher and Guardian
but His Teaching to humanity
is mediated by Angels.

St Thomas Aquinas

When tempted, invoke your Angel.
He is more eager to help you
than you are to be helped!
Ignore the devil
and do not be afraid of him;
he trembles and flees
at the sight of your Guardian Angel.

St John Bosco

See, I am sending an angel before you,
to guard you on the way
and bring you to the place
I have prepared.
Give heed to him
and hearken to his voice.
Do not rebel against him,
for he will not forgive your sin.
My authority is within him.

Exodus 23:20-21

Beside each believer
stands an Angel
as protector and shepherd,
leading him to life.

St Basil the Great

What joy it is to know
that when we go out of the house,
we are never alone en route.

St John Vianney

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 30 September – St Jerome

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Begin with the Psalter, and teach your daughter how to chant the Psalms. You can read with her the Proverbs, by which she will know the moral precepts. This can be followed by Ecclesiasticus, a book so capable of inspiring her with a contempt of this world. You can then proceed to the Gospels – these, your daughter ought ever to have on hand. She can then read the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles. These finished she will gladly learn by heart the Prophets and Historical books. Lastly, she can read the Canticle of Canticles, for she will have been prepared to understand this in a spiritual sense.

The Master of that religion has been crucified. His servants have been chained down like criminals, and yet for all that, His religion grows and flourishes every day.

The clergy are called by that name, either because they are a portion of the inheritance of the Lord or because the Lord is their portion. He, therefore, who is thus of the heirdom of the Lord, or he who has God for his portion, should show himself to be worthy of possessing God, and that God should possess him.

Nothing so corrupts the heart and mind as flattery, for the flatterer’s tongue does more harm than the persecutor’s sword. We are dragged downwards by an evil which is inherent within us, we feel favourably towards those who flatter us, and although in our reply we show, or pretend to show, that we are unworthy of their praise, we nevertheless receive the flattering praise with a secret joy and pleasure.

We must take care not to only to avoid leading a bad life, but we must not contract a friendship with those who live sinfully, for that, according to the Prophet, is included among the sins. True friendship exists not in family interests, nor with those persons by whom we are accustomed to be entertained, nor with those who flatter us, and whose company is dangerous, but with those who cherish the holy fear of God and the study of Holy Scripture.

Whether you like it or not, marriage is subordinated to virginity and widowhood. Even when marriage continues to fulfil its function, the Church does not condemn it, but only subordinates it; it does not reject it, but only regulates it. It is in your power, if you will, to mount the second step of chastity. Why are you angry if, standing on the third and lowest step, you will not make haste to go up higher?

MORE

Posted in ArchAngels and Angels, CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 29 September – St Michael

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Among the Angels in Heaven none surpasses St Michael in Glory.

St Michael has the honourable office of presenting to Jesus Christ the Judge, all the souls that depart out of this world in the grace of God.

St Alphonsus Liguori

Whenever a mighty deed is in question, Michael is assigned, so that by his actions and name, which means “Who is like God?” it may be made known that no-one can do what God can do.

St Gregory the Great

Then war broke out in Heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.

The Book of the Apocalypse

Mary sends the archangel Michael, with all the angels, to the defence of her dying servants, to protect them from the assaults of evil spirits, and to receive the souls of all those who have especially and constantly recommended themselves to her.

St Bonaventure

Michael is the Breath of the Redeemer’s Spirit, who at the end of the world, will combat and destroy the antichrist, as he did Lucifer in the beginning.

St Thomas Aquinas

It was St Michael who took up the defence of the honour of God against Lucifer, in the cause of the Incarnation of the Word; and St John Chrysostom is of opinion, that he was also one of the first to pay his homage to Him in the crib of Bethlehem, on the day of His humble Birth. It is he who is the tutelary Archangel of the Church. If, then, we love the interests of God only, we must love him; for he is the great saint of the cause of God, and of God Incarnate.

Devotion to the Nine Choirs of Holy Angels

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 28 September – Good King Wenceslaus

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Quote/s of the Day – 28 September – The Memorial of St Wenceslaus (907-935) King of Bohemia, Martyr

Good King Wenceslaus

Good King Wenceslaus looked out,
on the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about,
deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night, t
ho’ the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
gath’ring winter fuel.

“Hither, page and stand by me,
if thou know’st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence,
underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence,
by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine,
bring me pine logs hither,
Thou and I will see him dine,
when we bear them thither.”
Page and Monarch, forth they went,
forth they went together;
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
and the bitter weather.

“Sire, the night is darker now
and the wind blow stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page.
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage,
freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod,
where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod
which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor,
shall yourselves find blessing.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 27 September – St Vincent de Paul

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“The Church teaches us,
that mercy belongs to God.
Let us implore Him,
to bestow on us the spirit
of mercy and compassion,
so that we are filled with it
and may never lose it.
Only consider how much we ourselves,
are in need of mercy.”

“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!”

“Humility is nothing but truth
and pride is nothing but lying!” 

“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.”

“Free your mind from all that troubles you;
God will take care of things.
You will be unable to make haste in this (choice) without,
so to speak,
grieving the heart of God
because He sees that you do not honour Him sufficiently
with holy trust.
Trust in Him, I beg you
and you will have the fulfilment
of what your heart desires.”

“He who allows himself to be ruled or guided
by the lower and animal part of his nature,
deserves to be called a beast,
rather than a man.”

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 26 September – The Mercy of God

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When Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, Woman, you are delivered from your infirmity. And He laid His hands upon her, and instantly she was made straight, and glorified God.

Luke 13:6-17

Mercy does not tire of us, does not despair of us, does not give over its pursuit of us, takes no offence, repays evil with good, and is the ubiquitous minister of the precious Blood of Jesus.

Fr Faber

Oh! would that all sinners who sincerely repent of their past offences could see in His heart the feelings He has for them – no resentment, no bitterness there! and how thoroughly He forgives them.

Claude de la Colombiere

Sufferings borne with resignation to God’s holy will are a sign of predestination. Sick persons, on the contrary, who do not suffer with patience and resignation to the will of God are to be pitied, for they do not realize the priceless treasures which God desires to bestow on them.

Words of Consolation for the Sick and Afflicted

First Point – We can not distrust ourselves too much, neither can we have too great confidence in God. God refuses nothing to those who trust in Him. Our confidence in God is a proof of our love for Him, for we trust those we love. Nothing proves our gratitude for His kindness, His power, His wisdom and His providence, like confidence. His power is infinite; can we fail if He assists us? His wisdom is infinite; can we go astray if He guides us? His kindness is infinite; can He forget or neglect us if we rely on it?

Fr François Nepveu

You are frightened, my children, at what you see: all that you hear is frightening, but be consoled that it is the will of God being accomplished. Your days are numbered. His Providence watches over us.

Letter from Fr. Demaris to Catholics Who Have Been Deprived of a Priest

That illness has been your salvation. You have suffered, but your life has not been in danger. This is what the Lord has said, “I will strike him, and I will cure him.” He has struck you, your illness has awakened your faith, and that has been your cure.

St Ambrose

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 25 September – Serving God

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He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house; you gave Me no water for My feet; but she has bathed My feet with her tears, and has wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil; but she has anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to you, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much.

Luke 7:36-50

First Point – Where were you one hundred years ago? In nothingness. Who has drawn you out of it? God, who, by a preference that you have not at all merited, has created you to His own image and likeness. For what end have you been created? To glorify God, to know and to serve Him, to do His holy will and to keep His commandments. We glorify God by knowing and by loving Him; we give testimony of our love by serving Him; we serve Him by keeping His commandments.

Father François Nepveu

The service of God is not only our most important, but our sole work. This is so obvious that it requires only to be stated. Time and words would alike be wasted in the attempt to prove it. Yet, alas! even spiritual persons need to be reminded of this elementary truth.

Fr Faber

O my Lord and my God! my heart is filled with bitter grief when I call to mind the years of my past life. Alas! far from having employed them in Thy service, I am one of those unfaithful servants who have had my own self interest in view. However, as You are my Lord and King, I this day take an oath of allegiance and from henceforth swear that my wish is to live and die in Thy service.

Henri Marie Boudon

We begin at once to go back in the spiritual life when we become lukewarm or lax in the service of God. It is the first step that leads to sin and death.

Fr Louis Bordaloue

Sometimes I allow the world to show them what it is, so that, feeling its diverse and various passions, they may know how little stability it has, and may come to lift their desire beyond it, and seek their native country, which is the Eternal Life. And so I draw them by these, and by many other ways, for the eye cannot see, nor the tongue relate, nor the heart think, how many are the roads and ways which I use, through love alone, to lead them back to grace, so that My truth may be fulfilled in them. I am constrained to do so by that inestimable love of Mine, by which I created them, and by the love, desire, and grief of My servants.

The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena

First Point – Death is fast approaching. Everything we see, everything we hear, proves it. In a short time we will be summoned to appear before the great Judge. We must die, indeed, but we must die a good death, if we would be saved. We try to persuade ourselves that death is still far off, as if by so doing we could keep away from us death itself. We should weep constantly over the brevity of life. A young man builds his hopes for a long life, on his youth; a man in middle life, on the vigor of his age; and an old man, on the strength of his temperament. Each one believes that he has resources against death that other men have not. How strange, but how common an illusion!

Father François Nepveu

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 28 September – The Twin Commandments

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Do you, therefore, and My other servants, carry yourselves with true patience, with grief for your sins, and with love of virtue for the glory and praise of My Name. If you act thus, I will satisfy for your sins, and for those of My other servants, inasmuch as the pains which you will endure will be sufficient, through the virtue of love, for satisfaction and reward, both in you and in others. In yourself you will receive the fruit of life, when the stains of your ignorance are effaced, and I shall not remember that you ever offended Me.

The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena

Some people think it a hardship not to be praying all the time for their own souls. Yet what better prayer could there be than this? You may be worried because you think it will do nothing to lessen your pains in Purgatory, but actually praying in this way will relieve you of some of them and anything else that is left – well, let it remain. After all, what does it matter if I am in Purgatory until the Day of Judgement provided a single soul should be saved?

St Teresa of Avila

John Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, remarkable for his learning and virtue, after having explained the fifty properties of divine love mentioned in the Canticles, expired at the close of three days, smiling, and pronouncing these words of the same sacred text: ‘Thy love, O God, is strong as death’.

St Francis de Sales

The sure way of gaining heaven, without much cost, is by making frequent acts of the love of God, and by accustoming ourselves to do everything with the intention of pleasing Him.

Father Segneri SJ

Do not suppose, you Greeks, that my separation from your customs is unreasonable and unthinking; for I found in them nothing that is holy or acceptable to God. For the very compositions of your poets are monuments of madness and intemperance. For any one who becomes the scholar of your most eminent instructor, is more beset by difficulties than all men besides. Such things I have no desire to be instructed in. Of such virtue I am not covetous, that I should believe the myths of Homer. For the whole rhapsody, the beginning and end both of the Iliad and the Odyssey is — a woman.

St Justin Martyr

When then neither loss of money, nor slander, nor railing, nor banishment, nor diseases, nor tortures, nor that which seems more formidable than all, namely death, harms those who suffer them, but rather adds to their profit, whence can you prove to me that any one is injured when he is not injured at all from any of these things? For I will endeavour to prove the reverse, showing that they who are most injured and insulted, and suffer the most incurable evils are the persons who do these things.

St John Chrysostom

Posted in QUOTES on FAITH

Quote/s of the Day – 23 September – Faith

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And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands: and they bowed down, and adored God, with their faces to the ground.

2 Esd. 8:1-10

Inquisitive speculation destroys that simplicity which seeks only to bend to authority, and submit the reason and will to the weight of the Divine Word, without wishing to penetrate the depth of the mysteries, and entering into vain and useless arguments. This simplicity is founded on the respect due to God, and on the deference we ought to pay to His Word.

Esprit Fléchier

Brothers, this blind man is the Jew, who in the synagogue that is, in the house of faithlessness, and in the village, that is, in the assembly of the wicked, was confined, stuck in his seat, and burdened by ignorance, by blindness. This is why it was not he who came to Christ, but Christ who came to him and grasped his hand, so that he might boast that he had been cured by the gift of the One who called him, and not by any help from the Law or by his own decision. And he leads him outside, so that he who used to endure the darkness of faithlessness within the synagogue may see the light of faith within the Church, and he who used to see nothing under the veil of the Law, may have sight through the freedom that comes from grace.

St Peter Chrysologus

Wo often hear worldly people say, ‘Let me but witness but one miracle, and I will be converted.’ They deceive themselves. Their wonder would be excited, but it would leave no impression on their hearts. They would admire the power of the Almighty, but they would not increase in love and charity. They might be convinced, but they would not be converted, and since neither the authority of Holy Writ, nor the interior voice of conscience, nor the preaching of the gospel, nor the inspirations of heaven, do not induce them to believe, the light impression of a miracle would be very soon effaced.

Esprit Fléchier

I need not tell you with St Chrysostom and St Augustine, that it is a purely gratuitous gift of God, preceded by no merit, but from which proceed all merits, and that is the source and beginning of the righteousness of men. I will not tell you, with St Bernadine of Siena, that it is the most excellent homage that man can render to God, by subjecting his reason, which is the most ungovernable and the proudest of his faculties, by a blind deference to all the truths He has revealed, however incomprehensible they may be.

Pere Pedro La Font (18th century)

Faith is the truth, which, being revealed, causes the joy and happiness of the blessed, and which, even when veiled, is the hope and comfort of the saints on earth.

Esprit Fléchier

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Quote/s of the Day – 22 September – St Thomas of Villanova

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The first house is Eve in a state of innocence, beautiful, comely, innocent, wise; the second house is the Virgin Mary, lowly and mortal. But do not grieve, O sinners: Great shall be the glory of this last house more than of the first. The first killed us, the last gave us life. The first led us to death, the last to life. The first is the creation of God, the last the Mother of God. The first is the world’s destruction, the last the world’s salvation.

Do you suppose that the Virgin suffers only a slight loss if you say that she was the captive of sin for only a moment? That she was a daughter of perdition, subject to an evil spirit, infected by the universal stain? How did she bruise the devil’s head, if she was first bruised by it? God forbid, God forbid, that we should impute such a stain to the glory of our sinful nature!

The Virgin is called an unspotted mirror (Wis 7:26). For just as a mirror contains two things, glass and lead, which allow it to reflect a likeness, so the Virgin contains the glass of purity and the lead of humility, by virtue of which the visible likeness of God the Father appeared in her in the flesh. Bernard says: the royal Virgin rises above all.

The most holy Virgin is first in worthiness. Anselm says, Nothing is equal to you, O Lady, nothing is comparable; for all that exists is either above you, and this is God; while that which is below you — and that is everything — is not God.

How was the Virgin created from the beginning? The answer: It does not say from the beginning of time, but as a condition of manner; not that she was created from the beginning, but that she followed the manner and condition of creatures who were created first and from the beginning, because they were without defect and sin.

For as the sun surpasses all the lights of heaven by virtue of its distinguished renown, so Mary surpasses all rational creation, after the Son, by the splendor and fairness of virtue and grace. And the moon under her feet. For every defect, and whatever weakness or corruption that exists, is beneath the Virgin, who rises above and surpasses creatures by virtue of a certain most excellent loftiness beyond all others; so that the moon may rightly be said to be under her feet.

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 21 September – The Calling of St Matthew

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“He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.”

Matthew 9:9

“Our Lord chose Matthew, the tax collector,
to encourage his fellows to join him.
He looked on sinners, called them
and brought them to sit beside Him.
What a wonderful sight!
Angels stand trembling,
while publicans, seated, rejoice!”

St Ephrem

“Why did Jesus not call Matthew
at the same time as He called Peter
and John and the rest?
He came to each one
at a particular time
when He knew that they would respond to Him.
He came at a different time to call Matthew
when He was assured
that Matthew would surrender to His call.
For He Who is acquainted
with our inmost hearts
and knows the secrets of our minds,
knows when each one of us is ready
to respond fully.”

St John Chrysostom

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 20 September – Love

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You are just, O Lord, and Your ordinance is right. Deal with Your servant according to Your kindness.

Ps 118:137; 118:124

Can we have any conception of a greater love for men than that of our Saviour, since, however wicked or ungrateful we may have been, He does not cease to love us? He forgives us our trespasses so readily that one would say that He was under an obligation to us. He rewards us for our good works liberally, never revealing how much He has contributed towards their performance. Although, in fact, we have done next to nothing for Him, He does not cease to be grateful, and showers down graces with profusion, just as if we had rendered Him some important service.

Fr Juan Eusebio Nieremberg SJ (17th century)

We should love our neighbour with a genuine affection, and not in the same way as we love things necessary or useful, such as bread, a house, and other things which are for our use or for our amusement, these we not love as ourselves, but for ourselves.

St Bernadine of Siena

When the Son of God gave us the best of prayers, He did not intend that we should say ‘My Father’ but Our Father, inasmuch as we have a common Father in heaven we should consider all men as our brethren, and that in this way we should love each other with a mutual love, with a love stronger on grace than in nature, as we have all an equal right to a vocation to a supernatural life, the same hope of a heavenly reward,

St John Chrysostom

How sweet is this command! Does it not appear worthy of the goodness and wisdom of God? Is it not reasonable that men who are endowed with one and the same nature, who have one and the same Father in heaven, who are obliged to live in society, who are all fellow-travellers, and who ought to meet again in heaven, is it not reasonable that we should love one another here below, and should help one another in the same degree as we would wish to be helped ourselves?

Pere de la Colombiere

The love of our neighbour may be placed in the same category as the love we owe to God. All who say ‘Lord, Lord’ (that is to say, all who say that they love God) shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Good works and proof of that love requisite. He alone will enter the kingdom of heaven who does the will of My Father. The same may be said of the love of our neighbour. We must show it by solid proofs.

St Augustine

He who does not believe that he has aught to pay to his neighbour, as if he had discharged the debt, ought rather to weep for himself as being without charity.

St Fulgentius

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Quote of the Day – 19 September – Our Lady of la Salette

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“If my people will not submit,
I shall be forced to let fall
the arm of my Son.
It is so strong, so heavy,
that I can no longer withhold it.
… ‘Six days I have given you to labour,
the seventh I have kept for Myself –
and they will not give it to Me.’
It is this which makes
the arm of my Son so heavy.”

Our Lady of la Salette
19 September 1846
To Maximin Giraud (11)
and Melanie Calvat (14)

I have suffered all of the time for the rest of you! If I do not wish my Son to abandon you, I must take it upon myself to pray for this continually. And the rest of you think little of this. In vain you will pray, in vain you will act, you will never be able to make up for the troubles I have taken over for the rest of you.

Those who drive carts cannot speak without putting the name of my Son in the middle.

Priests, my Son’s ministers, priests, by their evil life, by their irreverences and their impiety in celebrating the holy mysteries, love of money, love of honor and pleasures, priests have become sewers of impurity. Yes, priests call forth vengeance, and vengeance is suspended over their heads. Woe to priests, and to persons consecrated to God, who by their infidelities and their evil life are crucifying my son anew! The sins of persons consecrated to God cry to heaven and call for vengeance, and now here is vengeance at their very doors, for no longer is anyone found to beg mercy and pardon for the people; there are no more generous souls, there is now no one worthy of offering the spotless Victim to the Eternal on the worlds behalf.

God will strike in an unparalleled manner. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth! God will exhaust His anger, and no one will be able to escape so many evils at once. The heads, the leaders of the people of God, have neglected prayer and penance, and the devil has darkened their minds; they have become those wandering stars which the ancient devil will drag with his tail to destruction. God will permit the ancient serpent to sow divisions among rulers, in all societies and in all families; both physical and moral punishments will be suffered.

Society is on the very eve of most terrible scourges and greatest events; one must expect to be governed by a rod of iron and to drink the chalice of God’s wrath.

Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the Antichrist.

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Quote/s of the Day – 18 September – Hardness of Heart

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Brethren: If I should speak with tongues of men and of angels, but do not have charity, I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

1 Cor 13:1-8

Young children, susceptible as they ever are, listen attentively, soon share in their parent’s dislikes, they enter into the passionate feelings of their fathers, they suck in with their milk, so to speak, their corrupt inclinations, and scarcely have they arrived to man’s estate, than they have imbibed through those bad discourses, dispositions which will lead them to perdition.

Pere Jean Lejeune

Those who insult us and treat us contumeliously are anxious for a spiteful sarcastic reply, the silence we then affect, disheartens them, and they cannot avoid showing their vexation, they do all they can to provoke us and to elicit a reply, but the best way to baffle them is to say nothing, refuse to argue with them and to leave them to chew the cud of their hasty anger, This method of bringing down their pride disarms them, and shows them plainly that we slight and despise them.

St Ambrose

St Augustine compares the blindness of a soul to a man who is asleep. When our eyes are shut during sleep, we are blind, nevertheless we see something, for though our eyes are shut, our imagination is at work. We dream that we are very rich, we fancy that we are living in the lap of luxury, in a word, we picture to our mind strange events. This is our case. We do not see things in the right light, we do not hear the mute language that ought to lead us up to God. We thought to have found true happiness in the wealth and riches of this world, and they have vanished. We sought for earthly joys, and these pleasures have become insipid. When our soul is preparing to leave the body, then our eyes will be opened, and we shall then feel and know our terrible darkness.

Jules Mascaron

Hardness of heart leads to sad results. Light blinds or dazzles a hardened heart, it does not enlighten it. The just punishments of God, which weigh heavily on it, only make it rebellious, and do not subdue it. The scourge which God inflicts on it overwhelms, but does not humble it, miracles astonish, but do not convert it.

La Pere Nepveu

It is the characteristic of sin to over-shadow every action, whether it be the banishment of grace, which is the light of the soul, or whether it blinds the understanding, thus rendering it incapable of receiving the light of the Holy Spirit, who abandons the sinner, and leaves him exposed to all kinds of dangers and misfortunes.

Pere Nouet

Would you wish to know the sure marks of hardness of heart? St Bernard will give them to us. A hardened heart, he says, is a heart unbroken by remorse, unsoftened by devotion, and unmoved by prayer. It yields to no threats, which only harden it the more, it is unmindful of all the blessings of God, and unfaithful to grace. It blushes not at things most shameful, heeds no danger, has no love for brethren, no fear of God.

La Pere Nepveu

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 17 September –  St Robert Bellarmine & St Hildegard von Bingen

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For in the first place, that a manifest heretic would be ipso facto deposed, is proven from authority and reason. A non-Christian cannot in any way be Pope, as Cajetan affirms in the same book, and the reason is because he cannot be the head of that which he is not a member, and he is not a member of the Church who is not a Christian. But a manifest heretic is not a Christian, as St. Cyprian and many other Fathers clearly teach. Therefore, a manifest heretic cannot be Pope….

The school of Christ
is the school of love.
In the last day,
when the general examination takes place …
Love will be the whole syllabus.

It is granted to few,
to recognise the true Church,
amidst the darkness,
of so many schisms and heresies
and, to fewer still,
so to love the Truth
which they have seen,
as to fly to it’s embrace!

Even in a world
which is being shipwrecked,
remain brave and strong.

All of creation is a song of praise to God.

Holy Spirit, the life that gives life:
You are the Cause of all movement.
You are the Breath of all creatures.
You are the Salve that purifies our souls.
You are the Ointment that heals our wounds.
You are the Fire that warms our hearts.
You are the Light that guides our feet.
Let all the world praise You!

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 16 September – St Cyprian

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Look at the havoc which hail and storm spread around our gardens and orchard, look at the rot fast spreading amongst the cattle, look at the winds and hurricane which toss the ships at sea. This is only but a feeble image of the ravages of sin in a soul. Mortal sin destroys the merits of good works, corrupts every faculty of the mind, and leads the sinner on to certain death.

Manna suited everyone’s taste, in like manner the Word of God, which is preached to all throughout the world, supplies the wants of all kinds of persons, and according as it is listened to by those of ordinary intelligence it will be found – as did the manna of old – to be suitable to everyone’s taste.

The evangelical precepts are no other than divine lessons, they are the foundation of hope, the strengthening of faith, the food of charity, the Gospel is a rudder to steer our way through life, and helps us to reach the harbour of salvation. The law commands but few things, but those few should be willingly and lovingly performed.

The soul must be in an utter swoon, if it be not roused and enlivened by the Holy Eucharist. For is it not true that the Holy Eucharist raises the faithful above themselves, and from its efficacy, a worldly man becomes a heavenly man.

Envy is as prolific as it is hurtful, it is the root of all evil, the source of endless disorder and misery, the cause of most sins that are comitted.

If I know not myself, if I know neither the nature nor the essence of my soul, if I cannot give a reason of what is in me, how shall I dare lift up my eyes in order to understand God, who is the beginning and end of all things, and who is Himself, without beginning and end?

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 14 September – Glory in the Cross

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But it behooves us to glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: in Whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection: by Whom we are saved, and delivered.

Gal 6:14

We have sinned much: I know this well. For we are all liable for penalties. But we are not deprived of pardon; nor shall we fall away from repentance for we still stand in the arena, and are in the struggles of repentance. Are You old, and have you come to the last outlet of life? Do not consider even thus that you have fallen from repentance, nor despair of your own salvation, but consider the robber who was freed on the cross. For what was briefer than that hour in which he was crowned? Yet notwithstanding even this was enough for him, for salvation. 

St John Chrysostom

The tongue would not be sufficient to relate the delight felt by him who goes on this road, for, even in this life, he tastes and participates in that good which has been prepared for him in eternal life.

The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena

Benjamin, in the Old Law, was the figure of the predestinate: accordingly, it is to him that the cup, or chalice, is given – a gift, says St Ambrose, which is presented to only one of all the children of Jacob. To all, indeed, corn was given, but the chalice is reserved for one alone. In fine the great Doctor of our salvation, the Adorable Jesus, teaches us that His disciples shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice, the world which knows not God and is the enemy of God.

Henri-Marie Boudon

Heaven is open only to the innocent and to the truly penitent.

Massillon

Alas, my dear brethren, what have we become even since our conversion? Instead of going always forward and increasing in holiness, what laziness and what indifference we display! God cannot endure this perpetual inconstancy with which we pass from virtue to vice and from vice to virtue. Tell me, my children, is not this the very pattern of the way you live?

St John Vianney

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 13 September – Wisdom

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So that, being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth.

Eph 3:13-21

Some bewail and lament the inmates of the prison, some those who have been expelled from their country and transported to the land of exile, others those who have been deprived of their freedom, others those who have been seized and made captives by enemies, others those who have been drowned, or burnt, or buried by the fall of a house, but no one mourns those who are living in wickedness: on the contrary, which is worse than all, they often congratulate them, a practice which is the cause of all manner of evils.

St John Chrysostom

These are the two roads, and both are hard to travel. Wonder, then, at the ignorance and blindness of man, who, having a Road made for him, which causes such delight to those who use It, that every bitterness becomes sweet, and every burden light, yet prefers to walk over the water. 

The Dialogue of St Catherine of Siena

Poverty is good and contains within itself all the good things in the world. It is a great domain – I mean that he who cares nothing for the good things of the world has dominion over them all. What do kings and lords matter to me if I have no desire to possess their money, or to please them, if by so doing I should cause the least displeasure to God? And what do their honours mean to me if I have realised that the chief honour of a poor man consists in his being truly poor?

St Teresa of Avila

We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing.

St Clare of Assisi

True peace is a certain mark of predestination.

Father Segneri S.J (17th Century)

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, QUOTES on THE WORLD

Quote/s of the Day – 11 September – The World

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For if anyone thinks himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10

God alone can satisfy a soul, calm its anxieties, its suspicions, its fears, and every trouble that stirs within our hearts. Whenever I tried to fill up the aching void in my heart, said St Augustine, I found that nothing equalled the happiness I felt, in trying to do my duty in serving God.

Pere Croiset S.J

The world, it is that raging sea, on which are tossed to and fro vessels containing a crowd of sinners, whose cares and projects depend on the fortunes or misfortunes of life, whose aim seems to be to build palaces on sand, whose hopes are fixed on the fleeting enjoyments of this life, who seek for joys and pleasures which are a thousand times more fatiguing than they are worth.

Massillon

Ah! who can walk with a firm unshaken step in the midst of the passions of the world, amidst its seductive charms? Let us then think and meditate on the words of Job, ‘The life of man on earth is a continual warfare,’.

St Ambrose

The world is a monstrous assemblage of party spirits who revile each other, and regard each other with contempt, envy, and jealousy, void of honour and fair dealing.

Massillon

The world is more dangerous when it flatters us, than when it ill-treats us, we should be more careful of trusting it, when it invites us to love it, than when it admonishes us and compels us to despise it. They who follow the maxims of the world, experience nothing but misery, and the flattering expectation of happiness is delusive and vain. Would you wish not to be an enemy of God? Do not be a friend of the world.

St Augustine

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes

Quote/s of the Day – 10 September – Royal children

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At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.

Luke 12:32-34

Happy are the Christians who feel the honour and acknowledge the grace which God has bestowed upon them when He has received them as His servants! Oh! what a good Master we have! how magnificent are His promises! how faithful He is to carry them out! how liberal are His rewards! How happy is he who serves Him! and thrice happy is the choice he has made! Oh! If all men knew what it was to be a servant of God, they would have no more ardent wish or aspire to a higher honour than to be reckoned among the number of His faithful servants.

Henri Marie Boudon

Wherever we go there is mercy, the peaceful, active, endless mercy of our Heavenly Father. If we work by day, we work in mercy’s light, and we sleep at night in the lap of our Father’s mercy. The courts of Heaven gleam with its outpoured prolific beauty. Earth is covered with it, as the waters cover the bed of the stormy sea. Purgatory is, as it were, its own separate creation, and is lighted by its gentle moonlight, gleaming there soft and silvery, through night and day.

Father Faber

God does not act as men do. He does not grant half a pardon.

La Pere De La Colombiere

Had you tasted the sweet delight which God has poured into our souls, you would indeed despise the good things this world offers.

Father Spinola

Full confidence in the goodness of Almighty God is one of the sure marks of predestination.

Pere Vincent Houdry (17th century)

Posted in CATHOLIC Quotes, QUOTES on ENVY

Quote/s of the Day – 9 September – Envy

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Brethren: If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Let us not become desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Gal 5:25-26; 6:1-10

Indeed all the vices tend towards and aim at harming those whom they possess, but envy always consumes its own even more. Envy has always been the killer of its own, it strains thought-processes, it racks spirits, it torments minds, and it ruptures hearts.

St Peter Chrysologus

And why need I say more? The one who welcomes it endures his own unending punishments, because he is choosing to have his personal torturer always inside himself.

St Peter Chrysologus

Oh! ye who are envious, let me tell you, that however often you may seek for the opportunity of injuring him, whom you hate, you will never be able to do him so much harm, as you do harm to yourselves. He, whom you would pursue through the malice of your envy, may probably escape, but you will never be able to fly from yourselves. Wherever you may be, your adversary is with you, your sin rankles within.

St Cyprian

The envious man is cruel, proud, unfaithful, impatient and quarrelsome, and what is strange, when this vice gains the mastery, he is no longer master of himself, and he is unable to correct his many faults. If the bond of peace of broken, if the rights of fraternal charity are violated, if truth is altered or disguised, it is often envy that hurries him on to crime. What happiness can such a man enjoy in this world?

St Cyprian

Oh! envious man, you injure yourself, more than he whom you would injure, and the sword with which you would wound, will recoil and wound yourself. What harm did Cain to Abel? Contrary to his intention, he did him the greatest good, for he caused him to pass to a better and a blessed life, and he himself was plunged into an abyss of woe. It is ever thus, the more you envy your brother, the greater good you confer upon him. God, who sees all, takes the cause of the innocent in hand, and irritated by the injury you inflict, deigns to raise up him, whom you wish to lower, and will punish you to the full extent of your crime.

St John Chrysostom

Envy is a gnawing pain which springs from the success and prosperity of another, and this is the reason why the envious are never exempt from trouble and vexation. The envious, however, dare not speak, although envy makes them counterfeit gladness, their hearts are sore within. If you ask him what vexes him, he dare not tell the reason.

St Basil

As the shadow ever accompanies the pedestrian when walking in the sun, so envy throws its shadow on those who are successful in the world.

St Basil