Saint Ignatius of Antioch

No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. 

-- Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Saint Melito of Sardis (For Easter)

The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: "Who will contend with me? Let him confront me." I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.

-- Saint Melito of Sardis from a letter

Saint Melito of Sardis

Born as a son, 
led forth as a lamb, 
sacrificed as a sheep, 
buried as a man, 
He rose from the dead as a God, 
for He was by nature God and Man. 
He is all things: He judges, and so He is Law; 
He teaches, and so He is Word; 
He saves, and so He is Grace; 
He begets, and so He is Father, 
He is begotten, and so He is Son; 
He suffers, and so He is Sacrifice; 
He is buried, and so He is Man; 
He rises again, and so He is God. 
This is Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs Glory for all ages.

-- Saint Melito of Sardis, Bishop, Martyr, and Early Church Father

Saint Francis de Sales

God desires that we should be saved. We too need constantly to desire what God desires. God not only means us to be saved, but actually gives us all we need to achieve salvation. So we are not to stop at merely desiring salvation, but go a step further and accept all the graces God has prepared for us, the graces constantly offered to us. It is all very well to say, "I want to be saved." It is not much use merely saying, "I want to take the necessary steps." We must actually take the steps. We need to make a definite resolution to take and use the graces God holds out to us. Our wills must be in tune with God's. Because God wants us to be saved, we should want to be saved. We should also welcome the means to salvation that God intends us to take....that is why general acts of devotion and prayer should always be followed by particular resolutions. 

-- Saint Francis de Sales

Saint Isidore of Seville

The more you devote yourself to study of the sacred utterances, the richer will be your understanding of them, just as the more the soil is tilled, the richer the harvest. 

The man who is slow to grasp things but who really tries hard is rewarded, equally he who does not cultivate his God-given intellectual ability is condemned for despising his gifts and sinning by sloth. 

Learning unsupported by grace may get into our ears; it never reaches the heart. But when God's grace touches our innermost minds to bring understanding, his word which has been received by the ear sinks deep into the heart.

-- Saint Isidore of Seville

Saint Paul of the Cross

What has a person to fear who lives in the arms and bosom of God?

-- Saint Paul of the Cross

Saint Francis of Paola

Fix your minds on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, he came down from heaven to redeem us. For our sake he endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.

-- Saint Francis of Paola from a letter