Category: QUOTES on SILENCE

Posted in LENT 2020, Papa FRANCIS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRATITUDE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SILENCE, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 21 March – ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 21 March – Saturday of the Third Week of Lent, Readings: Hosea 6:1-6, Psalm 51:3-4, 18-21, Luke 18:9-14

“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”

‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ … Luke 18:13

sat-of-the-thirs-week-lent-30-march-2019 and 21 march 2020

Daily Meditation:
Fill our hearts with your love.

“We must only pray by placing ourselves before God just as we are. Not like the pharisee who prays with arrogance and hypocrisy. We are all taken up by the frenetic pace of daily life, often at the mercy of feelings, dazed and confused. It is necessary to learn how to rediscover the path to our heart, to recover the value of intimacy and silence, because the God who encounters us and speaks to us, is there. Only by beginning there can we, in our turn, encounter others and speak with them.”…Pope Francis – General Audience, 1 June 2016it-is-necessary-to-learn-how-to-pope-francis-30-march-2019 and 21 march 2020

“Come, let us return to the Lord,
for he has torn, that he may heal us,
he has stricken and he will bind us up.”
Hosea 6:1

Intercessions:
Thanks be to Christ the Lord, who brought us life by His death on the cross.
With our whole heart let us ask Him:
By Your death raise us to life.

Teacher and Saviour,
You have shown us Your fidelity and made us a new creation by Your passion,
– keep us from falling again into sin.
Help us to deny ourselves today,
– and not deny those in need.
May we receive this day of penance as Your gift,
– and give it back to You through works of mercy.
Master our rebellious hearts,
– and teach us generosity and love.

Closing Prayer:
God of infinite love,
You shower me with limitless gifts in my life.
In my every thought and action today
guide me to the bright and loving light of Your kingdom.
Help me to be aware of
the many ways You allow me
to share in Your life so intimately today.
Thank You for the gifts You have placed in my life.
Let me be grateful every moment of this day..
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

“The one who requests less than he deserves from God
will surely obtain more than he deserves.   
This is clearly shown by the tax-collector
who requested forgiveness but obtained justification.   
And the thief merely requested
to be remembered in His Kingdom
but he inherited Paradise.”

St John Climacus (c 525-606)

te-one-who-requests-less-st-john-climacus-30march-2019 and 21 march 2020

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on SILENCE

Thought for the Day – 10 March – The Hidden Life of Jesus

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Thought for the Day – 10 March – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Hidden Life of Jesus

“It is an amazing thought, that Jesus, the eternal wisdom of the Father, should have chosen to live quietly for thirty years in a carpenter’s workshop, along with his supposed father Joseph.
He could have confounded the philosophers of Greece and Rome with His infinite wisdom.
He could have attracted crowds by His miracles and drawn the attention of the whole world.
But He preferred silence and a busy hidden life.
Why?
Because men needed to learn one thing before anything else.
It was a simple thing but difficult to practise.
It was humility they needed to hear, for humility was to be the foundation of the giant structure which He had come to raise up and whose spire, was to reach to Heaven.
If this edifice, the Church, was to be so high, it’s foundation would have to be very deep.
Let us learn this lesson of humility and silence from the hidden life of Jesus.

The tendency in modern times, even in regard to spiritual projects, is to try and draw attention and admiration.
Perhaps this is why these projects are so often unsuccessful.
Like the seed, thrown by the sower upon the hard ground, they wither away, because, they have no moisture. (Cf Lk 8:6).
Without humility, a great deal of noise can be made but nothing supernatural is achieved.
The first lesson we must learn from Jesus, is the silence and recollection of the interior life.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

the hideen life of jesus - bacci 10 march 2020

Posted in LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, POETRY, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on SILENCE

Our Morning Offering – 24 February – I Stand and Listen

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 24 February – Monday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year A

I Stand and Listen
By St Columban (543-615)

Sometimes in a lowly cell,
in the presence of my God,
I stand and listen.
In the silence of my heart
I can hear His will,
When I listen,
despairing people flock to me,
They expect that I can see the answers,
They ask my advice,
they say I am wise.
I answer that nothing can deceive me,
If I stand alone and silently listen.
For, I am but a servant
who is guided by his King, when I listen.
Sometimes in a lowly cell
in the presence of my God
I stand and listen.
Amen

St Columban here:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/11/23/saint-of-the-day-23-november-st-columban-543-615/

I stand and listen by st columban 24 Feb 2020 a prelude to Lent

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HUMAN DIGNITY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SILENCE

Thought for the Day – 18 February – Interior Silence

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 18 February – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Interior Silence

Many people allow themselves to be swept away in the confusion of the world around them.
Modern life has become a whirling machine which snatches men up into it’s enormous rotators and carries them with it.
Not only has it become difficult to remain a Christian but it is even difficult to continue to be a man!

You cannot cast aside the natural gifts of intellect, free will and personal dignity which God has given us.
Still less, can we renounce the dignity of being Christians.
This dignity can be retained by interior recollection, which will be nourished by divine grace, if we ask for it and, will find it’s external expression in good works.
A man must be able to detach himself from the din of modern life and spend an occasional moment in recollection..
No matter what is going on around him, he must be able to find time to raise his mind to God.
Otherwise, he will realise one day, that life has passed him by like a cloud, or, worse still, like a lost battle.
We shall not be tormented with useless regrets on our deathbed, if we think about this now.

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

modern life has become a whirling machine - bacci 18 feb 2020

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on MEDITATION, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SILENCE, SAINT of the DAY, SPEAKING of .....

Quote/s of the Day – 8 February – Prayer

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Quote/s of the Day – 8 February – The Memorial of Blessed Maria Esperanza de Jesus (1893-1983)

Speaking of:  Prayer

“The means to obtain grace and glory is prayer.”

Blessed Maria Esperanza de Jesus (1893-1983)

the means to obtain grace and glory is prayer bl esperanza de jesus 8 feb 2020

“Half an hour’s meditation
each day is essential,
except, when you are busy.
Then a full hour is needed.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

half-an-hours-meditation-each-day-st-francis-de-sales-24-jan-2020

“Do not neglect prayer,
however busy you may be.”

Blessed William Joseph Chaminade (1761-1850)

do-not-neglect-prayer-however-busy-you-may-be-bl-william-joseph-chaminade-22-jan-2020 and 8 feb 2020

“How many things Jesus tells us in our heart,
when we stand at His feet,
if we are careful to listen to His Voice!”

Blessed Giovanni Maria Boccardo (1848-1913)

how-many-things-jesus-tells-us-in-our-heart-bl-giovanni-boccardo-30-dec-2019 and 8 feb 2020

“Prayer is our strength, our sword,
our consolation and the key to paradise.”

St Joseph Freinademetz (1852-1908)
“Fu Shenfu” – Lucky Priest

prayer is our strength our sword our consolation and the key to paradise st josep freinademetz 28 jan 2020

“And delicately, gently,
by means of this sweet and peaceful dawn,
God taught me, too, to obey …
God who offers me a little corner
on this earth for prayer,
who gives me a little corner
in which to wait for what I hope.”

St Raphael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938)

and-delicately-gently-by-means-of-this-dawn-god-teaches-me-to-obey-he-gives-me-a-little-cornr-st-raphael-arnaiz-baron-19-dec-2019 8 feb 2020

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SILENCE, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 8 February – If you wish to come and find Me, seek me aside.

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 8 February – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Tme, Year A, Readings: 1 Kings 3:4-13, Psalm 119:9-14, Mark 6:30-34 and the Memorial of Blessed Maria Esperanza de Jesus (1893-1983)

“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile” … Mark 6:31

REFLECTION – “If you wish to come and find Me, seek me aside.   As Mark says: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.   People were coming and going in great numbers and they had no opportunity even to eat.” (Mk 6:31).
Alas, such are the passions of the flesh and the turmoil of thoughts coming and going in our hearts that we have no time to eat the food of everlasting sweetness nor perceive the taste of interior contemplation.   That is why our Lord says: “Come away” from the noisy crowd “to a deserted place,” to solitude of mind and heart, “and rest awhile.”   For truly, as the book of Revelation says:  “There will be silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Rv 8:1); and in the Psalm:  “Who will give me wings like a dove that I might fly away and find rest” (Ps 54[55]:7 LXX).
But let us listen to what the prophet Hosea says:  “I will seduce her and lead her into the wilderness and I will speak to her heart” (cf. Hos 2:16 Vg).   These three expressions: seduce, lead into the wilderness, speak to her heart, represent the three stages of the spiritual life – the beginning, development and perfection.   The Lord seduces the beginner when He enlightens him with His grace so that he may grow and progress from virtue to virtue.   Then he leads him aside from the din of the vices and disordered thoughts into peace of spirit.   Finally, once guided to perfection, God speaks to his heart. Then the soul experiences the sweetness of divine inspiration and can surrender totally to joy of spirit.
What depth of devotion, of wonderment and happiness in his heart!   By devotion he is raised above himself, through wonder he is led above himself, through happiness he is transported out of himself.” … St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church – Sermon for the feast of Saint John the Evangelistmark 6 31 come away by yourselves and rest - if you wish to find me seek me aside - st anthony of padua 8 feb 2020

PRAYER – All-powerful, eternal God, splendour of true light and never-ending day, let our striving for Your kingdom not fall short through selfishness or fear, may the universe be alive with the Spirit and our homes be the pledge of the world redeemed.   May our eyes see and our hearts have compassion, to all those who need us.   May the intercession of our Holy Mother, Bl Esperanza de Jesus and all the saints, be a strength and a comfort. Through Jesus, our compassionate and loving Redeemer, with the Holy Spirit, one God with You forever, amen.bl esperanza de jesus pray for us 8 feb 2020

Posted in QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ETERNITY, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on PRIESTS, the PRIESTHOOD and CONSECRATED LIFE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SILENCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on VIRTUE, SAINT of the DAY, The LAST THINGS

Quote/s of the Day – 30 January – Blessed Sebastian Valfrè CO (1629-1710)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 30 January – The Memorial of Blessed Sebastian Valfrè CO (1629-1710)

Some of his advice, given to the novices, suffice for us all:

“Live at peace with everyone and to live thus, at peace, it is necessary to make war against yourself, for annoyance with your neighbour invariably proceeds from attachment to yourself.”

live at peace with everyone - make war on youself - bl sebastian valfre 30 jan 2020

“Give yourself to prayer and try by it, to procure, first the amendment of your fault then the practice of Christian virtues and finally a great love of God.”

give yourself to prayer - bl sebastian valfre 30 jan 2020

“Keep careful guard over your tongue, for remember, that much talking is a sign of little spirituality…”

“He who is wise, holds his tongue in his heart and he, who is foolish, carries his heart on his tongue.   He who can keep silence is near to God.”

keep careful guard over your tongue - he who is wise holds his tongue in his heart - bl sebastian valfre 30 jan 2020

He was much in demand as a spiritual father and would advise the Fathers of his Congregation:

“A confessor should above all, give a good example to his penitents, especially by practising the virtues he wishes to impress upon them.   If he exhorts them to humility, let him first be humble; if to devotion, let him be devout himself;  if he is to do this he will more readily be believed and obeyed.   Woe to confessors and preachers who teach virtue without practising it.   Woe to him who counsels, instructs and directs others, if he be not virtuous himself!   Let such a man dread the Judgement!”

woe to him who counsels - bl sebastian valfre 30 jan 2020

Blessed Sebastian speaking of the Shroud of Turin to which he had a great devotion:

“The Cross received the living Jesus and gave Him back to us dead,
the Shroud received the dead Jesus and restored Him to us alive.”

the cros received the living jesus the shroud - bl sebastian valfre 30 jan 2020

“When it is all over,
you will not regret having suffered,
rather, you will regret, having suffered so little
and suffered that little so badly.”

Bl Sebastian Valfre (1629-1710)

when-it-is-all-over-bl-sebastian-valfre-13-dec-2017 and 30 jan 2020