Saint Quote: Saint Philip Neri

He who desires anything but God deceives himself, and he who loves anything but God errs miserably.

– Saint Philip Neri

Saint Philip Neri's patronage: Archdiocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy; Gravina, Italy; Rome, Italy; United States Army Special Forces; laughter; humor; joy.

Saint Quote: Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Prayer ought to be humble, fervent, resigned, persevering, and accompanied with great reverence. One should consider that he stands in the presence of a God, and speaks with a Lord before whom the angels tremble from awe and fear.

– Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi's patronage: Against bodily ills; against sexual temptation; against sickness; sick people; Naples, Italy.

Saint Quote: Our Lady, Help of Christians (The Blessed Virgin Mary)

And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.

And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.

He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy:

As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

– Our Lady, Help of Christians (The Blessed Virgin Mary), from Luke 1:46-55, “The Magnificat”

Our Lady, Help of Christians' patronage: Australia; New Zealand; Andorran security forces; Australian military chaplains; New York; Diocese of Shrewsbury, England; Diocese of Townsville, Australia.

Saint Quote: Saint Ambrose of Milan, Church Father, and Doctor of the Church

When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking of Christ.

– Saint Ambrose of Milan

Saint Ambrose of Milan's patronage: Bee keepers; bees; bishops; candle makers; chandlers; domestic animals; French Commissariat; geese; honeycake bakers; learning; livestock; Milan, Italy; police officers; school children; security personnel; starlings; students; wax melters; wax refiners; Archdiocese of Milan; Alassio, Italy; Bologna, Italy; Lombardy, Italy; Archdiocese of Milan, Italy; Monte San Savino, Italy; Stresa, Italy; Vigevano, Italy.

Saint Quote: Saint Rita of Cascia

Love God above all things.

– Saint Rita of Cascia

Saint Rita of Cascia's patronage: Abuse victims; against loneliness; against sterility; bodily ills; desperate causes; difficult marriages; forgotten causes; impossible causes; infertility; lost causes; parenthood; sick people; sickness; sterility; victims of physical spouse abuse; widows; wounds.

Saint Quote: Saint Eugène de Mazenod

Every religious congregation in the Church has a spirit all its own; it is inspired by the Spirit of God to respond to the needs of the Church to work for the salvation of souls. By our particular vocation we are involved with the redemption of humanity… May we, by the sacrifice of our whole being, so cooperate as not to render His redemption fruitless for ourselves and for those we are called upon to evangelize.

– Saint Eugène de Mazenod

Saint Eugène de Mazenod's patronage: Dysfunctional families.

Saint Quote: Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Early Church Father on the Holy Spirit

When love has entirely cast out fear, and fear has been transformed into love, then the unity brought us by our savior will be fully realized, for all men will be united with one another through their union with the one supreme Good. They will possess the perfection ascribed to the dove, according to our interpretation of the text: One alone is my dove, my perfect one. She is the only child of her mother, her chosen one (Song of Songs 6:9).

Our Lord’s words in the gospel bring out the meaning of this text more clearly. After having conferred all power on his disciples by his blessing, he obtained many other gifts for them by his prayer to the Father. Among these was included the greatest gift of all, which was that they were no longer to be divided in their judgement of what was right and good, for they were all to be united to the one supreme Good.

As the Apostle says, they were to be bound together with the bonds of peace in the unity that comes from the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). They were to be made one body and one spirit by the one hope to which they were all called. We shall do better, however, to quote the sacred words of the gospel itself. I pray, the Lord says, that they all may be one; that as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so they also may be one in us (John 17:21).

Now the bond that creates this unity is glory. That the Holy Spirit is called glory no one can deny if he thinks carefully about the Lord’s words: The glory you gave to me, I have given to them (John 17:22). In fact, he gave this glory to his disciples when he said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).

– Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Saint Quote: Saint Crispin of Viterbo

God’s power creates us, His wisdom governs us, His mercy saves us.

– Saint Crispin of Viterbo

Saint Crispin of Viterbo's patronage: Cobblers .

Saint Quote: Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

There is no sin nor wrong that gives a man such a foretaste of hell in this life as anger and impatience.

– Saint Catherine of Siena

Saint Catherine of Siena's patronage: Against fire; bodily ills; diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA; Europe; illness; Italy; miscarriages; people ridiculed for their piety; sexual temptation; sick people; sickness; nurses.

Click here for Friday, May 18, 2018 Mass Readings.

Saint Quote: Saint Giulia Salzano

While I have any life left in me, I will continue to teach the catechism. And then, I assure you, I would be very happy to die teaching the catechism.

– Saint Giulia Salzano

Saint Giulia Salzano's patronage: Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Click here for Thursday, May 17, 2018 Mass Readings.

Saint Quote: Saint Thomas More

This deadly cancer of anger from which so much harm grows: It makes us unlike ourselves, makes us like timber wolves or furies from hell, drives us forth headlong upon the points of swords, makes us blindly run forth after other men’s destruction as we hasten toward our own ruin.

– Saint Thomas More

Saint Thomas More's patronage: Adopted children; diocese of Arlington, Virginia; civil servants; court clerks; difficult marriages; large families; lawyers; diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee Florida; politicians; politicos; statesmen; step-parents; widowers.

Saint Quote: Saint Gregory Nazianzen, Church Father, and Doctor of the Church

Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could.

– Saint Gregory Nazianzen

Saint Gregory Nazianzen's patronage: Harvests; poets.

Saint Quote: Saint Augustine of Hippo, Early Church Father

Now it was not for the angels that Christ died. Yet what was done for the redemption of man through His death was in a sense done for the angels, because the enmity that sin had put between men and the holy angels is removed, and friendship is restored between them, and by the redemption of man the gaps that the great apostasy left in the angelic host are filled up.

– Saint Augustine of Hippo

Saint Augustine of Hippo's patronage: Brewers; against sore eyes; against vermin; printers; theologians; Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut; Diocese of Ida, Philippines; Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan; Diocese of Laredo, Texas; Diocese of Saint Augustine, Florida; Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin; Diocese of Tucson, Arizona; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines; Carpineto Romano, Italy; Isleta Indian Pueblo; Ponte Nizza, Italy; Saint Augustine, Florida; San Austin, Ibiza, Spain; Valletta, Malta.

Saint Quote: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

If I had to advise parents, I should tell them to take great care about the people with whom their children associate. Much harm may result from bad company, and we are inclined by nature to follow what is worse rather than what is better.

– Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's patronage: Death of children; in-law problems; loss of parents; opposition of Church authorities; people ridiculed for their piety; Diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana; widows; State of Maryland.

Saint Quote: Saint Epiphanius of Salamis, Early Church Father

We see that the Savior took the bread in His hand, and when He had given thanks He said: “This is my body....” And we see that it is not equal or similar to either a corporeal image, or the invisible Deity, or the arrangement of the members of the body. For it is of rounded shape and without feeling as far as its power is concerned. But He wanted to say by grace: “This is my body...” and no one should refuse to believe this statement. For he who does not believe that He is truthful, as He Himself has said, cuts himself off from grace and salvation. But what we have heard, that we believe, namely, that it is His body and blood.

– Saint Epiphanius of Salamis

Saint Quote: Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, Early Church Father

All men enjoy some measure of heavenly teaching; and though the measure of grace might be small, it is sufficient to be a remedy for some men and a testimony for everyone.

– Saint Prosper of Aquitaine

Saint Prosper of Aquitaine's patronage: Reggio Emilia, Italy; Romano Canavese, Italy.

Saint Quote: Saint John of Avila, Doctor of the Church

Your life consists in drawing nearer to God. To do this you must endeavor to detach yourself from visible things and remember that in a short time they will be taken from you.

– Saint John of Avila

Saint John of Avila's patronage: Andalusia, Spain; Spain; Spanish secular clergy; World Youth Day 2011.

Saint Quote of the Day: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church

We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves.

– Saint Thomas Aquinas

Saint Thomas Aquinas' patronage: Academics; against storms; against lightning; apologists; book sellers; Catholic academies; Catholic schools; Catholic universities; chastity; colleges; learning; lightning; pencil makers; philosophers; publishers; scholars; schools; storms; students; theologians; universities; University of Vigo.

Saint Quote of the Day: Saint Dorotheus of Gaza

When God created man, He planted something divine into him — a certain conception — a spark that has both light and warmth. The conception that enlightens the mind and indicates what is right and what is wrong is called conscience. Conscience is a natural law. Living in times before any written law, patriarchs and saints pleased God by following the voice of their conscience.

– Saint Dorotheus of Gaza

Saint Quote of the Day: Saint Rose Venerini

I feel so nailed to the will of God that nothing else matters, neither death nor life. I want what He wants. I want to serve Him as much as pleases Him and no more.

– Saint Rose Venerini