|
Post by Hildegard on Jun 30, 2019 19:27:07 GMT
Page 54
NEVER let your home he without a crucifix upon its walls, to the end that all who enter it may know that you are a
disciple of a Crucified Lord, and that you are not ashamed to own it. - On Home Life (F.)
JESUS CHRIST, after having given us all He could give, that is to say, the merit of His toils, His sufferings, and His bitter death; after having given us His Adorable Body and Blood to be the Food
of our souls, willed also to give us the most precious thing
He had left, which was His holy Mother. - Notre-Dame d'Ars, Meditation 8.
LOVE is the distinctive mark of those who belong to God, as the mark of those who reject Him is hatred. - On the Joys of the Interior Life (Sp.)
THERE is no great merit in doing good to one who is loving and grateful to us in return. - Catechism on the Practice of Virtues (M.)
OFFER your temptations for the conversion of sinners.
When the devil sees you doing this, he is beside himself with rage and makes off, because then the temptation
is turned against himself. - On Temptations (C.)
WE are poor people who have been taught to beg
spiritually, and we do not beg. - On Prayer (Sp.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Jul 17, 2019 0:40:23 GMT
Page 55
WAS Jesus Christ afraid of being laughed at? - Sermon on Fasting.
WE must watch over our mind, our heart and our senses, for these are the gates by which the devil enters in. - On Temptation (Sp.).
TO love God with our whole strength is to employ our possessions, our health, and our talents in serving Him and glorifying Him. It is to refer all our actions to Him as our last end. - Sermon on the Love of God (Sp.).
IT is God's Will that on Sunday's we should occupy ourselves only with what has to do with His service and the salvation of our soul. By doing so, we draw down blessings on our work during the week. - On the Sunday Mass (E.).
THOSE who love riches or pleasures offer God nothing but the languid remains of a heart worn out in the service of the world. - On the Love of God (Sp.).
"AT the beginning of the day, I endeavor to unite myself closely
with Jesus Christ, and then I do the next thing, with the thought of this union in mind," confessed the Cure d'Ars to the Abbe Dufour. "From which I infer," adds the Abbe, "that his life was one long prayer." - Interior Life of the Cure d'Ars (T.).
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Jul 17, 2019 0:48:57 GMT
Page 56
LOVE for our neighbor consists of three things: To desire the greater to good of everyone; to do what good we can
when we can; to bear, excuse and hide others' faults. - Sermon on Love for one's Neighbor.
ONE's everyday life ought to be both a preparation and a thanksgiving for Communion. By one Communion you
give more glory to God than if you gave away one hundred thousand francs. - On Communion (C.).
WHEN we pray with attention and humility of mind and heart, we quit the earth and rise to Heaven. We reach the outstretched arms of God. We talk with the Angels and the Saints.
- On Prayer (Sp.).
THE virtue of Obedience makes the will supple. It gives the power to conquer self, to overcome laziness, and to resist temptations. It inspires the courage with which to fulfill the most difficult tasks. - Catechism on the Duty of Children (F.).
IF I may make use of such an expression, I compare those who serve sometimes God, sometimes the World, as the case may be, with dogs who answer to every whistle. - Sermon on the World.
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Jul 21, 2019 18:32:04 GMT
Page 57
AS a good gardener works from morning till night to destroy the weeds in his garden and fill it with flowers, so let us work every day to destroy the blemishes of our soul and adorn it with virtues. - Of Salvation (Sp.)
WHEN you think of going to Mass on working days, it is an impulse of the grace that God wills to grand you. Follow it. - Eucharistic Meditation 25.
THE first thing about the Angels that we ought to imitate, is their consciousness of the Presence of God. - Sermon for the Feast of the Guardian Angels.
OH! How easily we could win Heaven day by day just by doing what we have to do - but by doing it for God! . . . - On the Sanctification of Daily Life (E.)
HOW beautiful it is, my children, to be accompanied by the Holy Ghost! He is indeed a good guide; and to think that there are some who will not follow Him! - Catechism on the Holy Ghost (Sp.).
IT is good to abandon oneself unreservedly to the guidance of Divine Providence. Our reserves dry up the current of His mercies, and our distrust stops the course of God's blessings. - Advice to the Directresses of the Cure d'Ars Orphanage (M.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Jul 21, 2019 18:38:43 GMT
Page 58
IF we did like St. Remigius, we should never be angry. See, this Saint, being questioned by a Father of the desert as to how he
managed to be always in an even temper, replied: "I often
consider that my Guardian Angel is always by my side . . . . " - Sermon on Anger (Sp.)
IF you really love God, you will not be content with avoiding big sins. You will regard as hateful anything which could be even a
little displeasing to Him. - On the Keeping of Sunday (E.)
IN the morning we should behave towards God like an infant in
its cradle. As soon as it opens its eyes, it looks quickly through
the room to see its mother. When it sees her, it begins to smile. When it cannot see her, it cries. - Catechetical Illustration from Nature (M.)
SEE, my children, the first virtue is Humility, the second Humility, and the third Humility . . . . The Saints thought themselves nothing . . . and God gave them all they asked. - On Humility (C.)
GOD treats us as He treated His people of old. When He took away
Moses, He left them Caleb and Josue (Joshua). - Conversation - A Thought which consoled the Cure after a friend's death. (Sp.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Jul 26, 2019 16:04:26 GMT
Page 59
HOW many souls we convert by our prayers! There are some among them for whom one Pater and Ave would be enough to turn the scale. - Zeal of M. Vianney (Sp.)
IT is impossible to meditate with devotion upon the Mysteries of the Rosary and live in a state of sin. - Sermon for the Feast of the Rosary.
IF we could only see the joy of our Guardian Angel when he sees us fighting our temptations! . . . - On Temptations (C.)
IF we have a burden to carry let us promptly remember that we are following Jesus Christ carrying His Cross; let us unite our sufferings to those of our Divine Saviour. - Precept (I.)
WE have only to turn to the Blessed Virgin to be heard. Her heart is all love. - Catechism on the Blessed Virgin (Sp.)
IF you look for God you will find Him, and in the hour of
your death He will say to you: "See, I am here whom you have ever sought!" - On Detachment (C.)
HUMILITY is to the various virtues what the chain is to the Rosary; take away the chain and the beads are scattered,
remove Humility and all virtues vanish. - Maxim (T.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 2, 2019 19:39:17 GMT
Page 60
IT is our Angels who ask God to grant us a deep sorrow for our sins. - Sermon for the Feast of the Guardian Angels (D.).
A SOUL in which the Holy Spirit dwells is never weary in the presence of God; it gives forth a breath of love. - Catechism on the Holy Spirit (Sp.)
NO prayer is ever lost. - On love for our Neighbor (Catechismes).
ST. TERESA had a sight of Heaven and ever after, as she tells us herself,
everything on earth seemed but as mire and dirt to her. But we, alas! creep along on the earth, and know not how to rise above it! - Sermon on the last Day of the Year (M.)
WORDLY people say it is too difficult to save one's soul. Yet nothing is
easier. To observe the Commandments of God and the Church and to do good and avoid evil; that is all. - Catechism on Salvation (Sp.)
WHAT happiness it is to a Guardian Angel to have the care of a pure soul.
When the soul is pure, all the Court of Heaven looks upon it with joy. - Catechism on Purity (M.)
TO love God with our whole mind is to make the sacrifice to Him of our
knowledge and our reason, and to believe all that He has taught. - Sermon on the Love of God (Sp.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 2, 2019 19:46:27 GMT
Page 61
IN the Sacraments, it is God Himself who comes to annihilate our enemy. The devil, seeing Him in our Heart, throws himself despairingly into the bottomless pit; which explains why he does all he can to draw us away from them, or to make us receive them badly. - On the Use of the Sacraments (E.)
THERE is no one who cannot pray - and pray at all times and in all places;
by night or day, when hard at work or resting; in the country, at home, or when
travelling. - On Prayer (Sp.)
THE saints never complain. - Maxim (M.)
WE can, if we will, become a saint, for God will never refuse to help us to do so. - Sermon on Sanctity.
THE Charitable believe that other people are always better than they are. - Sermon on Charity.
WHEN a soul has received the Sacrament of the Eucharist worthily, it is humble, mortified, charitable, and is capable of the most sublime sacrifices. In short, it is no longer the same. - Catechism on the Holy Eucharist (M.)
RESID|ING continually in our Tablernacles Jesus Christ is deserted, misunderstood by ungrateful men; and yet He continues to love us; to serve us in the Sacrament of the Altar. - Sermon on Pride (Sp.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 5, 2019 15:25:39 GMT
Page 62
ONE is often carried away over the sins and shortcomings of others. It would be far better to talk less about them and to pray more. - On Love for our Neighbor (C.)
ALL our merit, my children, consists of cooperating with grace. - On Grace (Sp.)
IN Communion you have the happiness of possessing Jesus Christ in your heart, where He is in Body and Soul, as He was on earth during His mortal life. - Eucharistic Meditation 16.
ASK Our Lord for the grace to think only of Him and to desire only to please Him in all you do during your whole life. - Sermon on the First Commandment 2.
HOW many moments can be lost in doing nothing, or in doing wrong, in listening to the suggestions of the devil, or in obeying him! - On Sloth (Sp.)
ALL the Angels and Saints are engaged in trying to prevent us from committing sins.
- On Sin (C.)
OUR heart is the throne where God reposes, our thoughts, our words, our actions, directed to Him, are His Crown. We place the Sceptre in His hands when we consecrate our will to Him; the love that we have for Him is His Purple -- His royal Mantle . . . . - Sermon on Habitual Grace (Sp.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 5, 2019 15:31:21 GMT
Page 63
IF you invoke the Blessed Virgin when you are tempted, she will come at once to your help, and Satan will leave you. - On the Sixth Commandment (C.)
OUR prayer is an incense which God receives with
extreme pleasure. - Catechism on Prayer (Sp.)
DO not try to please everybody. Try to please God, the Angels, and the Saints. - - they are your public. - Advice to two Writers (D.)
HAPPY is he that lives to love, receive and serve God! - On the Lord's Prayer (C.)
WE should daily renew our baptismal vows. - On the Joys of the Interior Spirit (Sp.)
YOU do not know the resources of God's providence for those who put their trust in Him. - Eucharistic Meditation 25.
THE saints love everyone . . . . Their hearts, inflamed with Divine love, are dilated in proportion to the number of souls that God puts in their way. - On the Joys of the Interior Life (Sp.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 8, 2019 1:22:50 GMT
Page 64
WITH what humility should we assist at Mass, if we realized that our Guardian Angel
was kneeling beside us, prostrate before the Majesty of God! With what eagerness should we not ask him to offer our prayers to Jesus Christ! - Sermon on the Feat of the Guardian Angel
WHEN God sees us coming to Him in prayer, He leans His Heart down very low to His little creature, like a father who bends down to listen to his child when it speaks to him. - Catechetical Illustration from Nature (M.)
IF the Saints were asked: "Why are you in Heaven?" they would answer: "For having
listened to the Holy Ghost." - Catechism on the Holy Ghost (Sp.)
WE must say many prayers for the souls of the Faithful Departed, for one must be so pure to enter Heaven! - On Love for our Neighbor (C.)
PRIDE makes us hate our equals, because they are our equals; our inferiors, from the fear that they may equal us; our superiors because they are above us. - On Envy (Sp.)
IF I make God to reign in my heart, He will make make to reign with Him in His glory. - Catechism on Prayer (M.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 8, 2019 1:30:35 GMT
Page 65
IF we loved Our Lord, we should have the Tabernacle, that dwelling place of God, always before the eyes of our mind. - Faith of M. Vianney (Sp.)
A SAINT has told us that one day at Mass he saw Jesus Christ with His hands full of gifts, looking for souls to whom He might give them. - Sermon on Mass.
WHEN we go to Communion, we experience an extraordinary feeling of comfort which seems to envelop us entirely. Wheat is this but Our Lord communicating Himself to every part of our being, and making us thrill with joy? We are obliged to exclaim like St. John: "It is the Lord!" - Inner Life of the Cure d'Ars (J.V.)
"M. LE CURE," his missionary said to him one day, "if God were to give you your choice of going directly to Heaven, or remaining on earth to labor
for the conversion of sinners, what would you do?" "I think I would remain here." "Oh! M. Le Cure, is it possible? The Saints are so happy in Heaven!"
"That is true, but they can no longer glorify God, as we can, by sacrifices for the salvation of souls." - Zeal of M.Vianney (Sp.)
GOD calls His friends to bear His Cross after Him. - Catechism on Suffering (M.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 11, 2019 20:52:26 GMT
Page 66
IT is God's Will that the Saints should be our protectors and our friends . . . .
They are always ready to come to our aid when we call upon them . . . . Those whom we invoke watch over us at all times. - Sermon for the Feat of All Saints 2.
THE commandments of God are the guides which God gives us to show us the road to Heaven; like the names written up at the corners of the streets, to point out the way. - The Cure of Ars in his Catechisms (Sp.)
I OBSERVE this in a great many people; a single word of blame disturbs and
disquiets them . . . . The Saints were pained if their virtues were known, and
pleased that their imperfections should be seen. - Catechism on Sin (M.).
ALAS! How many neglect or omit their spiritual duties just as easily as they
would take a glass of wine. They will not do things unless they are in the mood, or put themselves to any onconvenience. - On Sloth (Sp.)
A SAINT once complained to Our Lord after a temptation was past, saying: :Where were Thee, O my loving Jesus, during this horrible tempest?" Our Lord replied: "I was in the midst of your heart, and was pleased to see you combat so bravely. - Sermon on Temptations (M.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 11, 2019 20:57:28 GMT
Page 67
IF the friendship of saints living in this world fills us with love for God, how much more then shall we gain by considering the Saints in glory, by invoking them, and taking them for our protectors! - Sermon for All Saints' Dy (D.)
ST. AUGUSTINE says that he who fears death does not love God; that is very true. If you had been long separated from your Father, would you not be happy to see him again? - Catechism Notes on the Desire for Heaven (Sp.)
IN Heaven, God will place us as an architect places the stones in a building - each in the place fitted for it. - Catechism Notes on Heaven (M.)
THE Blessed Virgin is like a good mother who, not content with looking after all her children in general, watches over each one separately. - Sermon for the Feast of The Nativity of Our Lady.
WITH a humble person, whether he is laughed at or esteemed, praised or blamed, honored or despised, whether people pay attention to him or pass him by, it is all the same to him. - Catechism on Pride (Sp.)
|
|
|
Post by Hildegard on Aug 12, 2019 23:11:25 GMT
Page 68
HOW consoling it is to do everything in the company and under the eyes of God; to know that He sees everything and takes count of all! One never tires of such a life, for it is like spending one's time with a friend. The hours pass like minutes . . . . In fact, it is a foretaste of Heaven. - The Cure d'Ars and Contemplation (D.)
THE Holy Spirit wants to take us to Heaven; we have only to say "Yes," and to let Him take us there. - Catechism on the Holy Spirit (Sp.)
WE complain when we suffer. We have much more reason to complain when
we do not suffer, since nothing to likens us to Our Lord as the hearing of His Cross. - The Cure d'Ars and the sufferings inflicted on him by men (M.)
IT is faith we want. Ask God to open the eyes of your heart. If you say to Our Lord sincerely, like the blind man in Jericho; "O Lord, make me to see!" you will
certainly obtain what you desire. - Catechism on the Real Presence (Sp.)
MY child, we must not be afraid of doing good, even if it costs us something. - Counsel (T.)
|
|