The condemnation of those who know and yet do not apply their knowledge is the more severe, but even sin committed in ignorance is not without risk.

-- St. Basil the Great

For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that "the work of our redemption is accomplished," and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.

-- Sacrosanctum concilium

Remember, that the devil has only one door by which to enter the soul: the will. There are secret or hidden doors. Temptations, discouragement, and unrest are the wares offered by the enemy. Remember this: if the devil makes noise, it is a sign that he is still outside and not yet within. That which must terrify us is his peace and concord within the human soul

-- Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

The air which we breathe, the bread which we eat, the heart which throbs in our bosoms, are not more necessary for man that he may live as a human being, than is prayer for the Christian that he may live as a Christian.

-- St. John Eudes

My God, do Thou strengthen and increase my faith in Thy divinity that I may adore it, and love it, and confess it even at the peril of my own life; let me be only too happy if I should be called to shed my blood in defense of it.

-- St. Peter Eymard

Remember that Jesus Christ, referring to the humility of the publican, said that his prayer was heard. If this was said of a man whose life was evil, what may we not hope for if we are really humble?

-- St. Vincent de Paul

In prosperity, give thanks to God with humility and fear lest by pride you abuse God's benefits and so offend him.

-- St. Louis IX

To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be detached from all temporal love. We must love nothing but Him, or if we love anything else, we must love it only for His sake.

-- St. Peter Claver

No man [truly] making a profession of faith sinneth; nor does he that possesses love hate any one. The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognized by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.

-- St. Ignatius

The most astonishing thing was that there were actually saints there, even ones who were beatified, who were passing through Purgatory. St. Severinus, Archbishop of Cologne, appeared to one of his friends a long time after his death and told him that he had been in Purgatory for having deferred to the evening the prayers he should have said in the morning. Oh! What years of Purgatory will there be for those Christians who have no difficulty at all in deferring their prayers to another time on the excuse of having to do some pressing work! If we really desired the happiness of possessing God, we should avoid the little faults as well as the big ones, since separation from God is so frightful a torment to all these poor souls!

-- Sermon on Purgatory by Saint John Vianney

Live in the world as if only God and your soul were alone in it. Then your heart will never be made captive by anything earthly thing.

-- St. John of the Cross

If you love me, follow me. "I do love you," you protest, "but how do I follow you?" If the Lord your God said to you: "I am the truth and the life, I laid down certain conditions for obtaining my promises. Have you fulfilled them?" If you say: "What did you command, Lord our God?" he will tell you: "I commanded you to follow me.". In your desire for truth, in your love for life, you would certainly ask him to show you the way to reach them. You would say to yourself: "Truth is a great reality, life is a great reality; if only it were possible for my soul to find them!"

-- St. Augustine

The highest degree of meekness consists in seeing, serving, honoring, and treating amiably, on occasion, those who are not to our taste, and who show themselves unfriendly, ungrateful, and troublesome to us.

-- St. Francis de Sales

I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe

-- St. Augustine

Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?

-- St. Gerard Majella

Grace can do nothing without the will and the will can do nothing without grace.

-- St. John Chrysostom

Guard your eyes that they may not look upon anything contrary to purity; your ears, that they may not listen to evil conversation; your mind, by banishing from it all suggestive thoughts; your heart, by stifling impure desires at their very birth.

-- St. John Baptist de la Salle