Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in lying down, Christ in sitting, Christ in rising up, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
-St. Patrick of Ireland
There is but one Church in which men find salvation, just as outside the ark of Noah it was not possible for anyone to be saved.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
Just as in one man there is one soul and one body, yet many members; even so the Catholic Church is one body, having many members. The soul that quickens this body is the Holy Spirit; and therefore in the Creed after confessing our belief in the Holy Spirit, we are bid to believe in the Holy Catholic Church.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
I would never want any prayer that would not make the virtues grow within me.
-St. Teresa of Avila
Never read books you aren’t sure about . . . even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?
-St. John Bosco
I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself.
-St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
The Church has ever proved indestructible. Her persecutors have failed to destroy her; in fact, it was during times of persecution that the Church grew more and more; while the persecutors themselves, and those whom the Church would destroy, are the very ones who came to nothing. . . .Again, errors have assailed her; but in fact, the greater the number of errors that have arisen, the more has the truth been made manifest. . . . Nor has the Church failed before the assaults of demons: for she is like a tower of refuge to all who fight against the Devil.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
Whoever wishes to hold the fortress of contemplation must first of all train in the camp of action.
-Pope St. Gregory the Great
We ascend to the heights of contemplation by the steps of action.
-Pope St. Gregory the Great
Let him never cease from prayer who has once begun it, be his life ever so wicked; for prayer is the way to amend it, and without prayer such amendment will be much more difficult.
-St. Teresa of Avila
Vocal prayer . . . must be accompanied by reflection. A prayer in which a person is not aware of Whom he is speaking to, what he is asking, who it is who is asking and of Whom, I don’t call prayer—–however much the lips may move.
-St. Teresa of Avila
You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.
-St. Teresa of Avila
We are at Jesus’ disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that’s all right, everything is all right. We must say, “I belong to you. You can do whatever you like.” And this ..is our strength, and this is the joy of the Lord.
-Mother Teresa
All the wealth in the world cannot be compared with the happiness of living together happily united.
-Blessed Margaret d’Youville
It is better to say one Our Father fervently and devoutly than a thousand with no devotion and full of distraction.
-St. Edmund
If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured.
-St. Colette
At the end of our life, we shall all be judged by charity.
-St. John of the Cross
Three conditions are necessary for Penance: contrition, which is sorrow for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
The minister to whom confession is made is the delegate of Christ, Who is the Judge of the living and the dead.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls.
-St. Francis de Sales
Our Lord Himself I saw in . . . this venerable Sacrament . . . I felt as if my chains fell, as those of St. Peter at the touch of the Divine messenger. My God, what new scenes for my soul!
-St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
God desires from you the least degree of purity of conscience more than all the works you can perform.
-St. John of the Cross
The greatness of contemplation can be given to none but those who love.
-Pope St. Gregory the Great
Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
When shall it be that we shall taste the sweetness of the Divine Will in all that happens to us, considering in everything only His good pleasure, by whom it is certain that adversity is sent with as much love as prosperity, and as much for our good? When shall we cast ourselves undeservedly into the arms of our most loving Father in Heaven, leaving to Him the care of ourselves and of our affairs, and reserving only the desire of pleasing Him, and of serving Him well in all that we can?
-St. Jane Frances de Chantal
Pray with great confidence, with confidence based upon the goodness and infinite generosity of God and upon the promises of Jesus Christ. God is a spring of living water which flows unceasingly into the hearts of those who pray.
-St. Louis de Montfort
If it is “daily bread,” why do you take it once a year? . . . Take daily what is to profit you daily. Live in such a way that you may deserve to receive it daily. He who does not deserve to receive it daily, does not deserve to receive it once a year.
-St. Ambrose of Milan
If someone knows from experience that daily Communion increases fervor without lessening reverence, then let him go every day. But if someone finds that reverence is lessened and devotion not much increased, then let him sometimes abstain, so as to draw near afterwards with better dispositions.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
What do they not see, who see Him Who sees all things?
-Pope St. Gregory the Great
Just as in a physical body the operation of one member contributes to the good of the whole body, so it is in a spiritual body such as the Church. And since all the faithful are one body, the good of one member is communicated to another; everyone members, as the Apostle says, of one another [Eph 4:25]. For that reason, among the points of faith handed down by the Apostles, is that there is a community of goods in the Church, and this is expressed in the words Communion of Saints.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
The greater the charity of the Saints in their heavenly home, the more they intercede for those who are still on their journey and the more they can help them by their prayers; the more they are united with God, the more effective those prayers are. This is in accordance with Divine order, which makes higher things react upon lower things, like the brightness of the sun filling the atmosphere.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
To do penance is to bewail the evil we have done, and to do no evil to bewail.
-Pope St. Gregory the Great
In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance.
-St. Thomas Aquinas
