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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Saint Brigid of Ireland



I wish I had a great lake of ale for the King of kings, and the family of heaven to drink it through time eternal. I wish I had the meats of belief and genuine piety, the flails of penance, and the men of heaven in my house.I would like keeves of peace to be at their disposal, vessels of charity for distribution, caves of mercy for their company, and cheerfulness to be in their drinking. I would want Jesus also to be in their midst, together with the three Marys of illustrious renown, and the people of heaven from all parts. I would like to be a rent-payer to the Lord, so that if I should suffer distress He would confer on me a good blessing.

-- Saint Brigid of Ireland

Monday, January 30, 2012

Saint John Bosco



My sons, in my long experience very often I had to be convinced of this great truth. It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the boys. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.

See that no one finds you motivated by impetuosity or willfulness. It is difficult to keep calm when administering punishment, but this must be done if we are to keep ourselves from showing off our authority or spilling out our anger.

Let us regard those boys over whom we have some authority as our own sons. Let us place ourselves in their service. Let us be ashamed to assume an attitude of superiority. Let us not rule over them except for the purpose of serving them better.

This was the method that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized and still others to hope for God's mercy. And so he bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.

-- Saint John Bosco from a letter

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Saint Alphonsus Liguori



We must show charity towards the sick, who are in greater need of help. Let us take them some small gift if they are poor, or, at least let us go and wait on them and comfort them.

-- Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Saint Paul of the Cross


It is very good and holy to consider the passion of our Lord, and to meditate on it, for by this sacred path we reach union with God. In this most holy school we learn true wisdom, for it was there that all the saints learned it. 

-- Saint Paul of the Cross

Friday, January 27, 2012

Saint Thomas Aquinas


 Be assured that he who shall always walk faithfully in God's presence, always ready to give Him an account of all his actions, shall never be separated from Him by consenting to sin.

-- Saint Thomas Aquinas

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Saint John Baptist de la Salle


Pride makes us forgetful of our eternal interests. It causes us to neglect totally the care of our soul.

-- Saint John Baptist de la Salle

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Saint Teresa of Avila

 
God, deliver me from sullen saints.

-- Saint Teresa of Avila

Saint Paul the Apostle


For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

-- Saint Paul the Apostle from The Second Letter of Paul To Timothy 1: 11-12

Monday, January 23, 2012

Saint Francis De Sales



In the royal galley of divine Love, there is no galley slave: all rowers are volunteers.

-- Saint Francis De Sales

Saint Peter Julian Eymard



He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant.

-- Saint Peter Julian Eymard

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Saint Vincent Pallotti



Not the goods of the world, but God.
Not riches, but God.
Not honors, but God.
Not distinction, but God.
Not dignities, but God.
Not advancement, but God.
God always and in everything. 

-- Saint Vincent Pallotti

Friday, January 20, 2012

Saint Agnes of Rome

Christ made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him whom the angels serve.

-- Saint Agnes of Rome






Thursday, January 19, 2012

Saint John Vianney



I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in serving the world and its pleasures.

-- Saint John Vianney

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Saint Joseph Sebastian Pelczar


Earthly ideals are fading away. I see the ideal of life in sacrifice, and the ideal of sacrifice in priesthood.

-- Saint Joseph Sebastian Pelczar as a young man

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Saint Jaime Hilario Barbal



To die for Christ, my young friends, is to live.

-- Saint Jaime Hilario Barbal

Monday, January 16, 2012

Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi



Come, Holy Spirit. Spirit of truth, you are the reward of the saints, the comforter of souls, light in the darkness, riches to the poor, treasure to lovers, food for the hungry, comfort to those who are wandering; to sum up, you are the one in whom all treasures are contained.

-- Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Pope Saint Pius X

My hope is in Christ, who strengthens the weakest by His Divine help. I can do all in Him who strengthens me. His Power is infinite, and if I lean on him, it will be mine. His Wisdom is infinite, and if I look to Him for counsel, I shall not be deceived. His Goodness is infinite, and if my trust is stayed in Him, I shall not be abandoned.

-- Pope Saint Pius X

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Saint Francis of Assisi


Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society. 

-- Saint Francis of Assisi

Friday, January 13, 2012

Saint Thomas Aquinas


Almsgiving proceeds from a merciful heart and is more useful for the one who practices it than for the one who receives it, for the man who makes a practice of almsgiving draws out a spiritual profit from his acts, whilst those who receive his alms receive only a temporal benefit.

-- Saint Thomas Aquinas

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla


If you must decided between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child - I insist on it. Save him.

-- Saint Gianna Beretta Molla

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Saint Macarius the Wonder Worker



To you, O Master, who loves all mankind
I hasten on rising from sleep.
By your mercy I go out to do your work
and I make my prayer to you.
Help me at all times and in all things.
Deliver me from every evil thing of this world
and from pursuit by the devil.
Save me and bring me to your eternal kingdom,
For you are my Creator,
You inspire all good thoughts in me.
In you is all my hope and to you I give glory,
now and forever.


-- Saint Macarius the Wonder Worker

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Saint Frances Salesia



Let us establish a permanent Spring season in our heart through ‘yes’ often repeated to all of God’s permissions and wills.

-- Saint Frances Salesia

Monday, January 9, 2012

Pope Saint Pius X



Whereas in the Lord's Prayer, we are bidden to ask for 'our daily bread,' the Holy Fathers of the Church all but unanimously teach that by these words must be understood, not so much that material bread which is the support of the body, as the Eucharistic bread, which ought to be our daily food.

-- Pope Saint Pius X

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Saint John the Baptist


Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 

-- Saint John the Baptist from the Gospel According to John 1: 29

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga



It is better to be the child of God than king of the whole world.

-- Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

Friday, January 6, 2012

Saint Vincent Ferrer



Christ, the Master of humility, manifests His Truth only to the humble and hides Himself from the proud.

-- Saint Vincent Ferrer

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Saint Andre Bessette



When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained forty years.

-- Saint Andre Bessette This was in regard to Saint Andre having difficulty in being accepted into the order of the Holy Cross Brothers, and upon being accepted was given the job of doorkeeper.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Saint John Nepomucene Neumann



The few [priests] we have are sadly out of proportion to the ever-increasing wants of the faithful. There are Catholics who have not been to confession for many years, and there are young people of nineteen or twenty who have nothing of Catholicity about them, saving their baptism and all this from the want of priests. The longer this need continues, the more difficult it will be to reanimate faith and the fear of God.

-- Saint John Nepomucene Neumann

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton



We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life. We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.

-- Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton 

Monday, January 2, 2012

Saint Gregory Nazianzen



Let us not esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment, but let us live elsewhere, and raise all our attention to Heaven; esteeming sin as the only true evil, and nothing truly good, but virtue which unites us to God.  

-- Saint Gregory Nazianzen

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Saint Basil the Great


Of the dogmas and messages preserved in the Church, some we possess from written teaching and others we receive from the tradition of the apostles, handed on to us in mystery. In respect to piety, both are of the same force. No one will contradict any of these, no one, at any rate, who is even moderately versed in matters ecclesiastical. Indeed, were we to try to reject unwritten customs as having no great authority, we would unwittingly injure the gospel in its vitals; or rather, we would reduce the Christian message to a mere term.

-- Saint Basil the Great

Saint Ignatius of Antioch



Mary's viginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death escaped the notice of the prince of this world; these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God's silence.

-- Saint Ignatius of Antioch