There are fruits like the quince which due to the sourness of their juice are scarcely tasty except in preserves. There are others like cherries and apricots which being tender and delicate cannot last unless similarly preserved. Thus women require great desire that their husbands be preserved. A man without devotion is a harsh, violent and coarse animal. Husbands must want their wives to be devout because without devotion, the wife is very unsteady and liable to fall or tarnish her virtue.
Let us be firm in our intentions, unwavering in our decisions. Our very perseverance will prove that in good earnest desire we have sacrificed ourselves to God and committed ourselves to the devout life
Comets disappear in a very short time since they are only passing lights, while planets are constantly shining. Similarly hypocrisy does not last long and vanishes like rising smoke. True virtue is ever firm and constant.
Temptation casting its delight into the inferior part of the soul seems to cover the whole soul with ashes and to reduce the love of God to a spark. For it appears only in the very centre of the heart, in the very depths of the spirit. It seems so imperceptible that it is difficult to discover it at all. Yet it is really there. Even though all may be troubled in our soul and our body, yet we have the resolution never to consent to the sin or to the temptation.
As soon as you feel yourself tempted, follow what little children do when they see a wolf or a bear in the field. They run at once to their father’s or mother’s arms or at least call out to them for help and assistance. In the same way, have recourse to God, imploring his mercy and his help. This is the remedy which our Lord teaches: Pray that you may not enter into temptation. (Mt. 26 :41)
Variety gives beauty to the universe. It is the same with man who has been called by the Ancients “an epitome of the world". He is never in the same state. His life flows on earth like the water which surges and swirls in a perpetual diversity of movements. Sometimes he is lifted up by hope, sometimes cast down by fear; sometimes bent to the right by joys, sometimes to the left by sorrow. Neither one day nor one hour is the exactly the same.
Even a good clock needs to be wound twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. Besides this, it has to be dismantled every year, to clean the rusty parts, to straighten those that are bent and to replace the worn out. Thus, whoever has a deep concern for his dear heart must wind it up daily to God, in the evening and in the morning, by means of the spiritual exercises. Besides he must examine its condition several times, rectifying and readjusting it
The devout person after this exercise of dismantling his heart, to review it well, must anoint it with the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist.
Love is like fire - the finer the fuel, the brighter the flame ; never more surely will you extinguish it than by beating it down, smothering it with earth. Similarly, the more refined, more spiritual the object of love, then the keener, stronger, more lasting will be love’s attachment. There is no better way of spoiling love than of reducing it to cheap carnal union.
As for those who are married, chastity consists not in abstaining absolutely from carnal pleasures, but in restraining themselves in the midst of pleasures
There is nothing so blessed as a devout religious, nothing so miserable as a religious without devotion.
All is gentle to the gentle, and all is holy to the holy.
What good is to build houses in Spain, when we live our lives in France.
Moderation is always good in all exercises, except in that of loving God.
Choose some particular saints, whose lives you can best appreciate and imitate, and in whose intercession you may have a particular confidence.
The beginning of good things is good, the progress is better, the end is the best.
We must do all by love, and nothing by force. We must love obedience rather than fear disobedience.
We have only to take care not to use a superfluous attention when we seek out the will of God in all the particular details of small, ordinary and trifling actions.
Let us not be troubled at finding ourselves always novices in the exercise of virtues, for in the monastery of a devout life everyone considers himself always a novice.
Salt and sugar are both excellent things, but too much of either spoils the dish.
We do not become perfect by the multiplication of exercises, penances and austerities, but rather by the purity of love with which we do them.
Prayer must be loved, but it must be loved for the love of God.
The chief exercise of prayer is to speak to God and to hear God speak in the bottom of our heart.
Wolves and bears are certainly more dangerous than flies, but they do not cause us so much annoyance, nor do they exercise our patience so much.
Flies do not trouble us with their strength, but by their number.
When your heart is wandering and distracted, bring it back gently and quietly to its point, restore it tenderly to its Master’s side.
The three best and most assured marks of lawful inspirations are perseverance, against inconstancy and levity: peace and gentleness of heart, against disquietude and solicitude; humble obedience, against obstinacy and extravagance.
Make yourself a seller when you are buying, and a buyer when you are selling, and then you will sell and buy justly.
Excessive fear of losing a good name indicates a great distrust of its foundation, which is the truth of a good life.
Forget all that is not of God, and for God, and remain entirely at peace under the guidance of God; this is the height of virtue.
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