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“We become holy through love, and the Eucharist is about love. Because of Jesus’s love for us, he gave himself as an offering. In doing so, he freed us from the bonds of sin and bestowed on us the gift of freedom. Love and freedom are closely related. The Eucharist is a thanksgiving celebration for Jesus’s love, poured out to gain freedom for all humankind.”
—from the book Your [Imperfect] Holy Family
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“God loves those who thank Him even in suffering.”
— St. Arnold Janssen
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“The soul that does not attach itself solely to the will of God will find neither satisfaction nor sanctification in any other means however excellent by which it may attempt to gain them. If that which God Himself chooses for you does not content you, from whom do you expect to obtain what you desire? . . . No soul can be really nourished, fortified, purified, enriched, and sanctified except in fulfilling the duties of the present moment.”
— Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade
“Keep to the ancient way and custom of the Church, established and confirmed by so many Saints under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And live a new life. Pray, and get other to pray, that God not abandon His Church, but reform it as He pleases, and as He sees bet for us, and more to His honour and glory.”
— St. Angela Merici
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“Once, while I was wondering why Our Lord so dearly loves the virtue of humility, the thought suddenly struck me, without previous reflection, that it is because God is the supreme Truth and humility is the truth, for it is the most true that we have nothing good of ourselves but only misery and nothingness: whoever ignores this, lives a life of falsehood. they that realize this fact most deeply are the most pleasing to God, the supreme Truth, for they walk in the truth.”
— St. Teresa of Avila
“What are we to say of the charity and compassion of the Blessed Virgin, who for nine months bore, and still carries in her heart, the only Son of God, the uncreated charity which knows no bounds? If, as often as we approach a fire, we are affected by its heat, have we not reason to believe that whoever approaches the heart of the Mother of Mercies, ever burning with her most ardent charity, must be profoundly affected in proportion to the frequency of his petitions, the humility and confidence in his heart?”
— Dom Lorenzo Scupoli
“Truly Christian families are known by their fidelity, their patience, their openness to life, and their respect for the elderly…the secret to this is the presence of Jesus in the family. Let us therefore propose to all people, with respect and courage, the beauty of marriage and the family illuminated by the Gospel! And in order to do this let us approach with care and affection those families who are struggling, forced to leave their homeland, broken, homeless or unemployed, or suffering for any reason; let us approach married couples in crisis or separated. Let us be close to everyone through the proclamation of this Gospel of the family, the beauty of the family.”
—from the book The Blessing of Family
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“All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever has done these two things best, has made himself most saintly.”
— Saint Francis de Sales\
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“By accepting the sufferings ‘offered’ by life and allowed by God for our progress and purification, we spare ourselves much harder ones. We need to develop this kind of realism and, once and for all, stop dreaming of a life without suffering or conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously every day; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness.”
— Fr. Jacques Philippe
“Holy people testify to God’s holiness. Alone, humans cannot show God’s holiness. Too much evil, injustice, and pain exist in the world for individuals alone to manifest God’s goodness. That is why the Hebrew Scriptures say that we are saved together. In this process, we need God’s grace. The communal dimension of God’s salvation is felt most strongly in family bonds. Family members need one another as they move toward salvation.”
—from the book Your [Imperfect] Holy Family
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“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just what God wants us to be.”
— St. Therese of Lisieux
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“Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life ‘in earthen vessels’, and it remains ‘hidden with Christ in God’. We are still in our ‘earthly tent’, subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.”
— (CCC, 1420-21)
“Charity has as its close relatives joy and peace. Joy is born of happiness at possessing what we love. Now, from the moment at which the soul knows God, it is naturally led to love him. If the soul follows this natural impulse, which is caused by the Holy Spirit, it is already loving the Supreme Good. This fortunate soul…possesses the beautiful virtue of love. By loving God the soul is certain of possessing him. When a person loves money, honors, and good health, unfortunately he does not always possess what he loves, whereas he who loves God possesses him at once.”
—from the book The Joyful Spirit of Padre Pio: Stories, Letters, and Prayers
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“We should take as a maxim never to be surprised at current difficulties, no more than at a passing breeze, because with a little patience we shall see them disappear. Time changes everything.”
— St. Vincent de Paul
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“When we come into church from the outside our ears are filled with the racket of the city, the words of those who have accompanied us, the laboring and quarreling of our own thoughts, the disquiet of our hearts’ wishes and worries, hurts and joys. How are we possibly to hear what God is saying? That we listen at all is something; not everyone does. It is even better when we pay attention and make a real effort to understand what is being said. But all this is not yet the attentive stillness in which God’s word can take root. This must be established before the service begins, if possible in the silence on the way to church, still better in a brief period of composure the evening before.”
— Msgr. Romano Guardini
“Peace is simplicity of heart, serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, the bond of love. Peace means order, harmony in our whole being; it means continual contentment springing from the knowledge of a good conscience; it is the holy joy of a heart in which God reigns. Peace is the way to perfection, indeed in peace is perfection to be found. The devil, who is well aware of all this, makes every effort to have us lose our peace.”
—from the book The Joyful Spirit of Padre Pio: Stories, Letters, and Prayers
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Love Our Lady and make her loved; always recite the Rosary and recite it as often as possible.”
— St. Padre Pio
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“Always be impartial and just in your deeds. Put yourself into your neighbor’s place, and him in yours, and then you will judge fairly . . . Frequently, therefore, examine your heart, whether it is so disposed towards your neighbor, as you would have his disposed towards you, were you to change places; for this is the true test.”
— St. Francis de Sales
“At times the spirit is willing and the flesh weak, but God wants the spirit more than anything else. Cling closer and closer to him, then, with your will, with the highest point of your soul. Always bear in mind as a safe general rule that while God tries us by his crosses and sufferings, he always leaves us a glimmer of light by which we continue to have great trust in him and to recognize his immense goodness. I urge you, therefore, not to be entirely disheartened in the face of the cross…heaven bestows on you, but to continue to have boundless confidence in the divine mercy.”
—from the book The Joyful Spirit of Padre Pio: Stories, Letters, and Prayers
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“Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you.”
— St. Thomas Aquinas
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“All our perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ; and therefore the most perfect of all devotions is, without any doubt, that which the most perfectly conforms, unites and consecrates us to Jesus Christ. Now, Mary being the most conformed of all creatures to Jesus Christ, it follows that, of all devotions, that which most consecrates and conforms the soul to Our Lord is devotion to His holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to Mary, the more it is consecrated to Jesus.”
— St. Louis De Montfort
“Every family is a work in progress, but each one can move toward wholeness. Circumstances differ, but every family needs peace, love, and trust. Christian hope springs from belief in God’s presence during life’s high and low points. In the struggle for wholeness, families become holy and generate holiness in others. Holy families, not perfect families, are sources of hope to those facing dark and painful times.”
—from the book Your [Imperfect] Holy Family
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“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
— St. Therese of Lisieux
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“Prayer is greatly aided by fasting and watching and every kind of bodily chastisement. In this regard each of you must do what you can. Thus, the weaker will not hold back the stronger, and the stronger will not press the weaker. You owe your conscience to God. But to no one else do you owe anything more except that you love one another.”
— St. Augustine
“Today Jesus says to each one: “Take courage; do not give in to life’s burdens; do not close yourself off in the face of fears and sins. Come to me!” He awaits us; he always awaits us. Not to magically resolve problems, but to strengthen us amid our problems. Jesus does not lift the burdens from our life, but the anguish from our heart; he does not take away our cross, but carries it with us. And with him every burden becomes light, because he is the comfort we seek.”
—from the book Believe in Love: Inspiring Words from Pope Francis
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“The most deadly poison of our times is indifference. And this happens, although the praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise Him to the greatest extent of our powers.”
— St. Maximilian Kolbe
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“There is another reason also why the soul has traveled safely in this obscurity; it has suffered: for the way of suffering is safer, and also more profitable, than that of rejoicing and of action. In suffering God gives strength, but in action and in joy the soul does but show its own weakness and imperfections. And in suffering, the soul practices and acquires virtue, and becomes pure, wiser, and more cautious.”
— St. John of the Cross
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