Grace is never wanting. God always gives sufficient grace to whoever is willing to receive it.
We must be very faithful, but without anxiety or eagerness; we must use the means that are given to us according to our vocation, and then remain in peace concerning all the rest. For God ... will always be attentive to provide us with whatever is necessary.
He asks for your own heart. Give it such as it is ... Are we not aware that everything that is remitted into His divine hands is converted to good?
Never does our good God leave us, save to hold us better; never does He let go of us, save to keep us better; never does He wrestle with us, save to give Himself up to us and to bless us.
God is merciful to those who want to love Him and who have placed their hopes in Him.
Truly, by the watering of our Saviour’s blood, made with the hyssop of the cross, we have been restored to a white incomparably better than that possessed by the snows of innocence.
The greatest defect we have in our prayers and in all that happens to us, particularly in that which concerns tribulations, is our lack of confidence ... Faith is great or little according to the measure of our confidence.
Oppose vigorously any tendency to sadness ... You must persevere. By means of sorrow the enemy tries to make us weary of good works, but if he sees that we don't give them up and that being done in spite of his opposition they have become very meritorious, he will stop troubling us.
God’s favour floats as it were over all this and finds joy in turning all those miseries to the greater profit of those who love Him. From toil He makes patience spring forth.
Little deeds that proceed from charity please God and have their place among meritorious acts.
Be patient, you are in good company. Our Lord Himself, our Lady, the apostles, and countless saints, both men and women, have been poor.
A man who can own pearls does not bother about shells, and those who aspire to virtue do not trouble themselves over honours.
The leaves of trees are of no great value in themselves. All the same they are of great use not only to beautify the trees but also to protect the fruits when they are still tender. So too, a good name not very desirable as such is very useful. It not only adorns our life but also preserves our virtues, especially those which are tender and weak...Those who want to preserve fruits are not satisfied with covering them with sugar but put them in jars suitable for their preservation. In the same way, although divine love is the principal preservative of our virtues, we can still make use of our good name as very suitable and useful for that purpose.
When all shall fail us, then God will take care of us, and then all will not fail us since we shall have God.
Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.
Don’t get upset with your imperfections. It’s a great mistake because it leads nowhere to get angry because you are angry, upset at being upset, depressed at being depressed, disappointed because you are disappointed. So don’t fool yourself. Simply surrender to the Power of God’s Love, which is always greater than our weakness.
We are crucified to the world, and the world must be as crucified to us. It esteems us as fools, let us esteem it as mad.
When any evil happens to you, apply whatever remedies you can and do this in a way agreeable to God, since to do otherwise is to tempt God. Having done this, wait with resignation for the results it may please God to send. If it is his will that the remedies overcome the evil, then humbly return him thanks. If it is his will that the evils overcome the remedies, then bless him with patience.
To every man, however holy he may be, there always remains some imperfection, because he has been drawn from nothingness: so that we do no injury to the saints when, in recounting their virtues, we relate their sins and defects; but, on the contrary, those who write their lives seem, for this reason, to do a great injury by concealing the sins and imperfections of the saints, under pretence of honouring them, not referring to the commencement of their lives, for fear of diminishing the esteem of their sanctity. Oh, no, indeed, this is not to act properly; but it is to wrong the saints and all posterity.
The King of Glory does not reward His servants according to the dignity of their office, but according to the humility and love with which they have exercised it.
Our actions are like roses, which when fresh have more beauty, yet when dry have more strength and sweetness. Our works performed with tenderness of heart are more agreeable to ourselves, who regard only our own satisfaction, yet when performed in the time of dryness they possess more sweetness, and become more precious in the sight of God.
The Cross has great power against the enemy for two reasons: the one is that it represents the death of the Savoir, who abased and subjugated him, which this proud being hates and fears in the extreme; the other is that the Cross is a brief and powerful invocation of the Redeemer that can be employed on every occasion suitable for prayer.
To keep the soul continually in a state of gentle calm, it is necessary to perform every action as being done in the presence of God, and as if he himself had ordained it.
In short, devotion is simply a spiritual activity and liveliness by means of which Divine Love works in us, and causes us to work briskly and lovingly; and just as charity leads us to a general practice of all God’s Commandments, so devotion leads us to practise them readily and diligently. And therefore we cannot call him who neglects to observe all God’s Commandments either good or devout, because in order to be good, a man must be filled with love, and to be devout, he must further be very ready and apt to perform the deeds of love. And for as much as devotion consists in a high degree of real love, it not only makes us ready, active, and diligent in following all God’s Commands, but it also excites us to be ready and loving in performing as many good works as possible, even such as are not enjoined upon us, but are only matters of counsel or inspiration.
My God, I marvel that I am still so full of myself after having so often received Communion! O dear Jesus, be the child inside of us, so that we feel within and breathe forth nothing but you. Alas, you are so often within me; why am I so rarely in you? You enter into me; why am I so often outside of you? You are in my very self; why am I not in yours, to find there the great love of yours that transports our hearts?
Even as a man just recovering from illness walks only so far as he is obliged to go, with a slow and weary step, so the converted sinner journeys along as far as God commands him but slowly and wearily, until he attains a spirit of true devotion, and then, like a sound man, he not only gets along, but he runs and leaps in the way of God's Commands, and hastens gladly along the paths of heavenly counsels and inspirations.
There is a great difference between doubting whether a thing is to be accepted and rejecting it. Doubt does not hinder a subsequent resolution; indeed it is its preliminary stage. To reject presupposes a decision. Inconstancy does not consist in changing a doubt into resolution, but in changing from resolution to doubt. It is not instability to become settled after wavering but to waver after being settled.
There are three things we must do to be at peace: have a pure intention to desire the honour and glory of God in all things; do the little that we can unto that end, following the advice of our spiritual father; and leave all the rest to God’s care.
You are submerged by a flood of troubles that the size of your household places on your shoulders. You must, then, call upon our Lord all the more and beg for his holy help, so that the work you must do will be agreeable to him and so that you will embrace it for his honour and glory. Our days are few (cf. Job 14:1), and consequently our labour cannot be overlong. By means of a little patience, we will get through it with honour and contentment, for we have no greater consolation at the end of the day than to have worked hard and shouldered its pains.
God desires from us more fidelity to the little things that he places in our power than ardour for great things that do not depend upon us.
Books | Quotes | 27 Volumes | Pictures | Videos | Audio Books | Articles | Prayers