“If material things please you, take occasion from them to praise God, and turn your love from them toward Him Who made them, lest in these things that please you, you displease Him.” St. Augustine of Hippo (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “Whatever you possess must not...
“I feel an indescribable pleasure in reading the Acts of the Martyrs; but when the Martyr is a woman, my enthusiasm is doubled. For the frailer the instrument, the great is the grace, the brighter the trophy, the grander the victory; and this, not because of her weakness, but because...
“Many indeed are the wondrous happenings of that time: God hanging on a cross, the sun made dark…for it was fitting that creation should mourn its Creator.” St. Gregory Nazianzen (4th century, Doctor of the Church) “He is our salvation Who was wounded for us, and fastened with nails to...
“What does the poor man do at the rich man’s door, the sick man in the presence of his physician, the thirsty man at a limpid stream? What they do, I do before the Eucharistic God. I pray. I adore. I love.” St. Francis of Assisi (12th-13th centuries) “When I...
“Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb’.” St. John the Apostle and Evangelist (1st century) “For this body shall be raised, not remaining weak as now, but raised the very same body, though by putting...
“He who has the love of Christ sometimes causes pain, even to someone he loves, for that person’s good.” St. Basil the Great (4th century, Doctor of the Church) “Now what precisely is meant by the words, ‘My friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment’? Listen...
“Scripture says, ‘Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, and thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and they cried, ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord of hosts, the whole creation is full of His glory’.’ We too, therefore, gathering together in one accord in our conscience, should cry out earnestly as...
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was...
“The more my body suffers for Christ, the more my soul is strengthened.” St. Probus (3rd-4th centuries) “Jesus’ cross is an example of painful toil. His resurrection is the reward of painful toil. In the cross He showed us how we are to bear suffering. In His resurrection He showed...
“As the man whom the priest baptizes is enlightened by the grace of the Holy Ghost, so does he who in penance confesses his sins, receive through the priest forgiveness in virtue of the grace of Christ.” St. Athanasius (3rd-4th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “It is not enough to...