Unhappy is the soul enslaved by the love of anything that is mortal.

-- St. Augustine

The sin is caused not by the flesh, but by the will of the soul, and the corruption contracted from sin is not sin, but sin's punishment.

-- St. Augustine

Whenever we suffer some affliction, we should regard it both as punishment and as a correction. Our holy Scriptures themselves do not promise us peace, security and rest. On the contrary, the Gospel makes no secret of the troubles and temptations that await us, but it also says that he who perseveres to the end will be saved. So we must not grumble, my brothers, and for as the Apostle says: some of them murmured and were destroyed by serpents. Is there any affliction now endured by mankind that was not endured by our fathers before us? What sufferings of ours even bear comparison with what we know of their sufferings? How then can you think that past ages were better than your own?

-- St. Augustine

Those who trust in themselves are worse than the devil!!

-- St. John of the Cross

The soul who is in love with God is a gentle, humble and patient soul.

-- St. John of the Cross

Ah! What years and centuries of torment to punish us! ... How dearly we shall pay for all those faults that we look upon as nothing at all, like those little lies that we tell to amuse ourselves, those little scandals, the despising of the graces which God gives us at every moment, those little murmurings in the difficulties that He sends us! No, my dear brethren, we would never have the courage to commit the least sin if we could understand how much it outrages God and how greatly it deserves to be rigorously punished, even in this world. God is just, my dear brethren, in all that He does. When He recompenses us for the smallest good action, He does so over and above all that we could desire. A good thought, a good desire, that is to say, the desire to do some good work even when we are not able to do it, He never leaves without a reward. But also, when it is a matter of punishing us, it is done with rigor, and though we should have only a light fault, we shall be sent into Purgatory.

-- St. John Vianney

The pure soul is a beautiful rose, and the Three Divine Persons descend from Heaven to inhale its fragrance.

-- St. John Vianney

Yes, my dear bretheren, we shall see at the Judgement that the largest section of Christians practiced a religion of whim or caprice only---that is to say, the greatest number of them practiced their religion merely from motives of routine, and very few sought God alone in what they did.

-- St. John Vianney

If we say less than we should, it is easy to add. But having said too much, it is hard to take it away.

-- St. Francis de Sales

Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, in spite of his present weakness.

-- St. Thomas of Villanova

When anyone reposes all his confidence in God, God continually exercises a special protection over him, and in this state of things he can be assured that no evil will happen to him.

-- St. Vincent de Paul

Let us relieve the poverty of those that beg of us and let us not be over-exact about it.

-- St. John Chrysostom

O Sacred Heart of Jesus! Living and life-giving Fountain of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, glowing furnace of Love! You are my refuge and my sanctuary. Oh my adorable and lovely Savior, consume my heart with that burning fire with which You are inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Your Love, and let my heart be so united with Yours, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things conformed to Yours. May Your Will be the rule alike of my desires and all my actions. Amen

-- St. Gertrude the Great

Courage, my sons, Don't you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes. -

-- St. Maximilian Kolbe

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God's ear to yourself.

-- Saint Peter Chrysologus

I turn to you, dear parents, and implore you to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth.

-- St. John Vianney

God will not hear our prayers unless we acknowledge ourselves to be sinners. We do this when we ponder on our own sins alone, and not on those of our neighbor.

-- St. Moses the Ethiopian

He who fights even the smallest distractions faithfully when he says even the very smallest prayer, will also be faithful in great things.

-- St. Louis de Montfort

I leave you the spirit of liberty - not that which excludes obedience, for that is the liberty of the flesh; but that which excludes restraint, scruple, and worry.

-- St. Francis De Sales

Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ.

-- St. Paul of the Cross

Prayer is the bulwark of chastity.

-- St. Gregory the Great

To be able to discover the actual will of the Lord in our lives always involves the following: a receptive listening to the Word of God and the Church, fervent and constant prayer, recourse to a wise spiritual guide, and a faithful discernment of the gifts and talents given by God, as well as the diverse social and historic situations in which one lives.

-- Pope John Paul ll

As Scripture says, "Those who instruct many in justice will shine as stars for all eternity." They will attain this more easily if they make a covenant of perpetual obedience and strive to cling to Christ and please him alone, because, in his words, "What you did to one of the least of my brethren, you did to me."

-- Saint Joseph Calasanz

Oh my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value.

-- St. Teresa

We must therefore be dead to every desire and interest of self and have in view only the desires and interests of Jesus within us. He is there only to live again for the glory of His Father; He gives Himself in Holy Communion in order to foster this ineffable union and make it closer.

-- St. Peter Julian Eymard

The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; it is also the font from which all her power flows.

-- Sacrosanctum concilium

The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby 'dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.' For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth 'the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.

-- St. Augustine

So mighty is the physician who has come to us that he has healed all our sins! If we choose to be sick once again, we not only harm ourselves, but show ingratitude to the physician as well. Yes he gave us a path of humility. If we keep to it we shall confess our belief in the Lord and have good reason to sing: We shall praise you, God, we shall praise you and call upon your name.

-- St. Augustine

See how the perfection of the Cross is folly in the eyes of the world precisely because it embraces what is abhorrent to human nature. It loves correction and submits to it; it not only takes pleasure in being corrected, but has no greater pleasure than in being reproved and corrected for faults and failings. They will arrive at the highest degree of perfection.

-- St. Francis de Sales

Daily advance, then, in this love, both by praying and by well doing, that through the help of Him who enjoined it on you, and whose gift it is, it may be nourished and increased, until, being perfected, it render you perfect.

-- St. Augustine