“There is only one thing to be feared…only one trial, and that is sin…All the rest is beside the point, whether you talk of plots, feuds, betrayals, slanders, abuses, accusations, confiscations of property, exile, sharpened words, open sea, or universal war. Whatever they may be, they are all fugitive and they will perish. They touch the mortal body, but wreak no harm on the watchful soul.” St. John Chrysostom (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church) From sin part 3, July 2013
“The eyes of all are turned upon you. Your house is set on a watchtower; your life fixes for others the limits of their self-control.” St. Jerome (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church) From evangelization part 3, February 2015
“For God was so engrafted into humanity that one Who was both God and human ran like one in love to the shameful death of the cross. This incarnate Word wanted to be engrafted onto that tree. And it was not the cross or the nails that held Him there. These were not strong enough to hold the God-Man. No, it was love that held Him there.” St. Catherine of Siena (14th century, Doctor of the Church) From the passion of Christ, part 3, Holy Week 2012
“I saw the river over which every soul must pass to the kingdom of Heaven, and the name of that river is suffering. And I saw the boat which carries souls across that river and the name of that boat is love.” St. John of the Cross (16th century, Doctor of the Church) From suffering part 4, April 2012
“When our hands have touched spices, they give fragrance to all they handle. Let us make our prayers pass through the hands of the Blessed Virgin. She will make them fragrant.” St. John Vianney (18th & 19th centuries) From the prayers of the holy Rosary part 2, January 2010
“Cast your eyes on our Lord fastened to the cross, and say to yourself, ‘This is what it cost my Savior to repair the injury my sins have done to God’.” St. John Vianney (18th-19th centuries) From the passion of Christ part 4, Holy Week 2013
“No one is a martyr for a conclusion; no one is a martyr for an opinion. It is faith that makes martyrs.” St. John Henry Newman (19th century) From faith part 4, September 2014
“O Eternal Word! O my Savior! Thou art the Divine Eagle Whom I love – Who lurest me. Thou Who, descending to this land of exile, didst will to suffer and to die, in order to bear away the souls of men and plunge them into the very heart of the Blessed Trinity – Love’s Eternal Home! Thou Who, reascending into inaccessible light, dost still remain concealed here in our vale of tears under the snow-white semblance of the Host, and this, to nourish me with Thine own substance! O Jesus! Forgive me if I tell Thee that Thy love reacheth even unto folly.” St. Therese of Lisieux (19th century, Doctor of the Church) From Eucharistic Adoration part 3, December 2012
“Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries) From tribulation part 3, January 2012
“You will find that as you pray, the nature of your requests will change. You will ask fewer and fewer things for yourself and more and more for His love….You probably think that if Our Lord came into your room some night as you are praying, you would ask Him favors, or present your difficulties, or say: ‘When will the war end?’ or ‘Should I buy General Motors stock?’ or ‘Give me a million.’ No! You would throw yourself on your knees and kiss the hem of His garment. And the moment He laid His hands on your head, you would feel such a peace and trust and confidence – even in darkness – that you would not even remember you had questions to ask, or favors to beg. You would consider them a kind of desecration. You would want only to look into His face, and you would be in a world which only lovers know.” Ven. Fulton Sheen (19th-20th centuries) From prayer part 3, March 2010
“The family is placed at the center of the great struggle between good and evil, between life and death, between love and all that is opposed to love.” Pope St. John Paul II (20th-21st centuries) 1994 From marriage and family part 2, June 2013