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