Saint Polycarp of Smyrna

I praise you for all things, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal priest of heaven, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him by glory to you, together with him and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen. 

                         
-- Saint Polycarp of Smyrna

Pope Blessed John XXIII

Christianity is the meeting-point of earth and heaven. It lays claim to the whole man, body and soul, intellect and will, inducing him to raise his mind above the changing conditions of this earthly existence and reach upwards for the eternal life of heaven, where one day he will find his unfailing happiness and peace.

-- Pope Blessed John XXIII

Saint Francis Borgia

We must perform all our works in God and refer them to his glory so that they will be permanent and stable. Everyone—whether kings, nobles, tradesmen or peasants—must do all things for the glory of God and under the inspiration of Christ’s example.

-- Saint Francis Borgia from a letter

Blessed John Henry Newman

I have a place in God’s counsels, in God’s world, which no one else has;

whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man,

God knows me and calls me by my name.

God has created me to do Him some definite service;

He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.

I have my mission–I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

Somehow I am necessary for His purposes,

as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his

–if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work;

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons.

He has not created me for naught.

I shall do good, I shall do His work;

I shall be an angel of peace,

a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it,

if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

Therefore I will trust Him.

Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away.

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him;

in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him;

if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end,

which is quite beyond us.

He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it;

He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends,

He may throw me among strangers,

He may make me feel desolate,

make my spirits sink, hide the future from me

–still He knows what He is about.

-- Blessed John Henry Newman

Saint Mark the Ascetic

Faith consists not only of being baptized in Christ, but also in fulfilling His commandments. Holy Baptism is perfect and gives us perfection, but does not make perfect those who do not follow the commandments. 

-- Saint Mark the Ascetic

Saint Athanasius the Great

The Word who became all things for us is close to us, our Lord Jesus Christ who promises to remain with us always. He cries out, saying: See, I am with you all the days of this age. He is himself the shepherd, the high priest, the way and the door, and has become all things at once for us. 

-- Saint Athanasius the Great

Saint Bruno

Rejoice, my dearest brothers, because you are blessed and because of the bountiful hand of God's grace upon you. Rejoice, because you have escaped the various dangers and shipwrecks of the stormy world. Rejoice because you have reached the quiet and safe anchorage of a secret harbor. Many wish to come into this port, and many make great efforts to do so, yet do not achieve it. Indeed many, after reaching it, have been thrust out, since it was not granted them from above. 

-- Saint Bruno from a letter to the Carthusians