St. Clare of Assisi: Melancholy Is Poison!

Melancholy is the poison of devotion. When one is in tribulation, it is necessary to be more happy and more joyful because one is nearer to God.

- St. Clare of Assisi

Totus Tuus: Mary, Shaper of Saints

 

Litany of Humility

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,  

Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, 

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, 

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, 

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, 

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, 

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged,  

Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected,  

Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,  

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,  

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,  

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,  

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,  

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,  

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,  

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

 

Servant of God Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val,
Secretary of State to St. Pius X

Mother Teresa of Calcutta to the Suffering: You Can Do the Most!

In Minneapolis, a woman in a wheelchair, suffering continuous convulsions from cerebral palsy asked me what people like her could do for others. I told her: You can do the most. You can do more than any of us because your suffering is united with the suffering of Christ on the Cross and it brings strength to all of us. There is a tremendous strength that is growing in the world through this continual sharing, praying together,

suffering together and working together.

- Mother Teresa of Calcutta

St. John Chrysostom: Thankful Suffering Repels Satan

You say you cannot be silent when stung by pain. I would not have you silent. I would wish you to give thanks. It is this which repels Satan and brings you help from God. 

 - St. John Chrysostom

St. Louis de Montfort: Pray With Confidence!

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

 

St. Therese: Just These Two Things

Jesus does not ask for great achievements: only surrender and gratitude.

~St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Rose of Lima: No Other Way!

Apart from the cross
there is no other ladder by which
we may get to heaven.

St. Rose of Lima

 

 

Pergolesi - Stabat Mater (with Philippe Jaroussky and Emöke Barath)

St. John Paul the Great: Jesus and the Sick

Jesus did not only treat and heal the sick, but he was also a tireless promoter of health through his saving presence, teaching and action. His love for man was expressed in relationships full of humanity, which led him to understand, to show compassion and bring comfort, harmoniously combining tenderness and strength. He was moved by the beauty of nature, he was sensitive to human suffering, he fought evil and injustice. He faced the negative aspects of this experience courageously and, fully aware of the implications, communicated the certainty of a new world. In him, the human condition showed its face redeemed and the deepest human aspirations found fulfillment.

He wants to communicate this harmonious fullness of life to people today. His saving action not only aims to meet the needs of human people, victims of their own limits and errors, but to sustain their efforts for total self-fulfillment. He opens the prospect of divine life to man: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10).

Called to continue Jesus’ mission, the Church must seek to promote a full and ordered life for everyone.

- St. John Paul the Great

World Day of the Sick 2000

Elisabeth Leseur: The Power of Suffering

Lord, make us realize that by simply suffering for Jesus’ sake and by bearing “in the body the death of Jesus” [2 Corinthians 4: 10], we can often do more for him and for others than we can by being active. It is very hard to understand this, so please make us realize that our very helplessness can be of great use to others, if we suffer it with and for Jesus. Our suffering works mysteriously, first in ourselves by a kind of renewal and also in others who are perhaps far away, without our ever knowing what we are accomplishing. Christ on the cross has perhaps done more for humanity than Christ speaking and acting in Galilee or Jerusalem. Suffering creates life. It transforms everything it touches. Help us to understand this through Christ, our Lord. 

- Elisabeth Leseur

Mary Live with Dr. Mark Miravalle - Pope Francis' Consecration Prayer S...

Oración por los pueblos cantada

Song of the prayer of St. Benedict: CRUX SACRA SIT MIHI LUX (33x)

St. Vincent de Paul: Humility

 

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not not at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.

~St. Vincent de Paul

 

 

Pope Pius VIII

"The salvation of the people principally depends on good pastors. Nothing contributes more to the ruin of souls than impious, weak, or uninformed clerics."

~ Pope Pius XIII

 

Trials and Tribulations

 Trials and tribulations offer us a chance to make reparation for our past faults and sins. On such occasions the Lord comes to us like a physician to heal the wounds left by our sins. Tribulation is the divine medicine. 

 
~ St. Augustine of Hippo

 

Officium Angelorum (con textos en latín y traducción)

St. John of the Cross: Better Than Working Miracles

Suffering for God is better than working miracles.

- St. John of the Cross

St. John Chrysostom: Prayers of Saints

The prayers of the saints have mighty power to help our need... let us call upon them, for they can be bolder of speech in death than when they lived. 

 - St. John Chrysostom

St. John Paul II: May your suffering become redeeming love

At this moment I would like to express the deep sympathy that I feel for each of you, and all my understanding for the sickness you carry in your body and your spirit; I would like to speak with you one by one to instill in you comfort and encouragement.

Your life as handicapped persons constitutes a great trial; it is a trial for you above all, but also for your parents, for those who love you, and for those who wonder why this infirmity?
In fact, your ordeal is also a mystery.

The Lord does not ask us to close our eyes in the face of infirmity. It is very real, and we must have a clear knowledge of it. He asks us to look more deeply, to believe that in these suffering bodies beats not only human life with all its dignity and its rights but also, by virtue of baptism, the divine life, the marvelous life of the children of God. If to the external eyes of men you appear weak and infirm, before God you are great and luminous in your existence.

There is yet another important reality that Jesus reveals to us.

In human society, powerful, cultivated people occupy the positions of authority and are more visible; in the Kingdom of God, on the other hand, the opposite happens - the first and the greatest, Jesus tells us, are the children, the weak, the poor, the suffering. The ways of God are disturbing to mankind. St. Paul says: "God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong."

This truth, which leaves us bewildered, becomes comprehensible if we look at the example of Jesus. Jesus was not content with revealing to us the mystery of suffering. He gave us the most convincing answer by taking our weaknesses upon himself, becoming the Man of sorrow who is acquainted with suffering.

When we ask God, then: Why must this innocent suffer? God in turn, asks us a question: Do you not see me in your brother who suffers? And what will you do for me and for him?

- St. John Paul II

John Paul II: Your Suffering Elevates the World

John Paul II: Your Suffering Elevates the World

I call on you to entrust your anguish to God the Father and to Christ, through Mary; to ask of Him - more than resignation, and even more than courage for your struggle - the grace of love and hope. Look at the Cross of Christ with faith: although it is the instrument of immense suffering, it is above all the sign of immense love, and the open door to Resurrection, which is the ultimate response of the God of love to His chosen Son.

May you offer this handicap of yours together with Christ, and enter into redemption: for your salvation, for the progress of the whole Church, for the graces of conversion that our world needs! Remain faithful to prayer. Try to remain open to others, without turning in on yourselves. Others have a lot to gain from your experience as sick people and as believers. Often, your ordeal has enabled you to acquire an outlook on existence and what is truly valuable, and gain a new degree of patience, of courage, of solidarity, of serenity at the prospect of death - in contrast with the anxiety of those around you - and a mysterious union with God. To all this you can bear witness, making manifest the promise of Jesus: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Even in the silence of prayer, and confined to your bed, you are in communion with the whole world, in order to take part in redemption: your prayer and your offering elevate the world.

~ Pope St. John Paul II

Belgium

May 21, 1985

St. Clare of Assisi Wisdom

We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.
If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing.
Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather
it means becoming the image of the beloved,
an image disclosed through transformation. This means
we are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others.

St. Clare of Assisi

 

 

St. Bonaventure: Voice of the Heart

When we pray, the voice of the heart
must be heard more
than that proceeding from the mouth.

St. Bonaventure

 

St. Maximilian Kolbe: Queen Even Of God's Heart

Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata 
who is queen even of God's heart. 

St. Maximilian Kolbe

 

 

 

 

St. Bernadette Soubirous: Courage Through Prayer

Courage, my soul,
through prayer we can do all that is asked of us.
The Heart of Jesus is there:
let us knock.

St. Bernadette Soubirous

 

 

 

 

Eucharistic Adoration As Spiritual Weapon

Listen: There are two things the Devil is deathly afraid of: fervent Communions and frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament. 

Do you want Our Lord to grant you many graces? Visit him often. 

Do you want Him to grant you only a few? Visit Him only seldom. 

Do you want the Devil to attack you? Rarely visit the Blessed Sacrament. 

Do you want the Devil to flee from you? Visit Jesus often.

Do you want to overcome the Devil? Take refuge at Jesus’ feet. 

Do you want to be overcome by the Devil? Give up visiting Jesus. 

Visiting the Blessed Sacrament is essential, my dear boys, if you want to overcome the Devil. Therefore, make frequent visits to Jesus. If you do that, the Devil will never prevail against you. 

- St. John Bosco

 

 

St. Alphonsus Liguori: Today

Today God invites you to do good;
do it therefore today.
Tomorrow you may not have time, or
God may no longer call you to do it.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

 

St. Therese of Lisieux: A Source of Merit!

Do not imagine that love can be found without suffering, for we carry with us our human nature; and yet, what a source of merit it is!

St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux: Furnace of Love

I cherish the hope that one day Thou wilt swoop down upon me and carry me up until I am lost, a willing victim, in the fiery heart of the furnace of Love.

-St. Therese of Lisieux

 

 

 

St. Augustine: The Truth!

People hate the truth
for the sake of whatever it is they love more than the truth.
They love truth when it shines warmly upon them
and hate it
when it rebukes them.

St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Gemma Galgani: If You Really Want to Love

If you really want to love Jesus, first
learn to suffer, because
suffering teaches you to love.

St. Gemma Galgani

 

 

 

St. Vincent de Paul: Why Trials and Afflictions?

God sends us trials and afflictions
to exercise us in patience and
teach us sympathy with the sorrows of others.

St. Vincent de Paul

 

 

 

Our Lady and the Three Dresses

Many centuries ago, three young nuns lived together in a convent. Day after day, they took their meals together, they went to chapel together, and they prayed and sang together.

One day, their priest-confessor advised them that, as a preparation for the feast of the purification of Mary, they should recite the whole Rosary every day for forty days. The three nuns obediently complied.

On the night before that holy feast day, the Heavenly Mother appeared to the three nuns as they gathered in the choir. To the first of these three sisters she handed a rich garment, embroidered with gold. Holy Mary thanked her and blessed her.

She then handed to the second nun a much simpler garment, and also thanked her. Noticing the difference in the two garments, the second sister asked, "Oh Lady, why have you brought my sister a richer garment?" Mary Most Holy lovingly replied, "Because she has clothed me more richly with her prayers than you have done."

Mary then approached the third nun with a canvas garment. Being an observant young lady, this sister at once asked pardon for the half-hearted way in which she had prayed her rosaries.

A full year had passed when all three fervently prepared for the same feast, each saying her Rosary with great devotion. On the evening preceding the festival, Mary appeared to them in glory, and said to them: "Be prepared, for tomorrow you shall come to paradise."

The following morning dawned, full of promise. Each nun wondered if this would be her last day in this vale of tears. When evening came, would they retire to their modest cells once more, or did Holy Mary have something else in store for them?

The sisters related to their confessor what had occurred, and received communion in the morning. At the hour of compline (evening prayers) they saw again the most holy Virgin, who came to take them with her. Amid the songs of angels, one after the other sweetly expired.

From the Glories of Mary, by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

 

 

 

St. Pio of Pietrelcina: We Must Not Stop!

We must not stop doing good
even if it scandalizes the Pharisees.

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

St. Hilary of Poitiers: No Matter How Sinful

No matter how sinful one may have been,
if he has devotion to Mary,
it is impossible that he be lost.

St. Hilary of Poitiers

 

 

 

St. Ignatius of Loyola: Though in Desolation

Though in desolation
we must never change our former resolutions,
it will be very advantageous to intensify
our activity against the desolation.
We can insist more
upon prayer, upon meditation, and on much examination of ourselves.
We can make an effort in a suitable way to do some penance.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

 

 

 

St. Therese of Lisieux: I Will Sing!

I will sing even when I must pick my flowers amid thorns. The longer and sharper the thorns are, the sweeter my song will sound.

~St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Alphonsus Liguori Quotation

When the devil
wishes to make himself master of a soul, he
seeks to make it give up devotion to Mary.

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

St. Francis of Assisi: Your Deeds

The deeds you do may be
the only sermon some persons will hear today.

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Teresa of Avila: Detachment

Detachment, if practiced perfectly, includes the other two necessary virtues, love of others and true humility.

~St. Teresa of Avila

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection: Little Things

We can do little things for God.

~Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection

St. Teresa of the Andes: Infinite Horizons of Love

When a soul gives herself wholly to God, He manifests Himself by letting the soul discover infinite horizons of love that will unite her most closely to Him.

~St. Teresa of Jesus of the Andes

St. John of the Cross: An Altar

The soul in which God alone dwells has no other function than that of an altar on which God is adored in praise and love.

~St. John of the Cross

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi: In Prayer

... in prayer God teaches the soul, and through prayer the soul detaches itself from created things and unites itself to God.

~St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi