God is Great! Let us humble ourselves as the dust of the earth before the Almighty One, and serve Him and our neighbor in faith, hope, and love. We ought to make some progress, however little, every day, and show some increase of fervor. We ought to act as if we were at war - as, indeed, we are - and never relax until we have won the victory. (St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church) Recourse to God, so infinitely good, is all the more necessary because, far from abating, the struggle grows fiercer and expands unceasingly. It is no longer only the Christian faith that they would uproot at all costs from the hearts of the people; it is any belief which lifting man above the horizon of this world would supernaturally bring back his wearied eyes to heaven. Illusion on the subject is no longer possible. War has been declared against everything supernatural, because behind the supernatural stands God, and because it is God that they want to tear out of the mind and heart of man. (Pope St. Pius X, Une Fois Encore, 1907 A.D.) Verily no one of sound mind can doubt the issue of this contest between man and the Most High. Man, abusing his liberty, can violate the right and the majesty of the Creator of the Universe; but the victory will ever be with God - nay, defeat is at hand at the moment when man, under the delusion of his triumph, rises up with most audacity. Of this we are assured in the holy books by God Himself. Unmindful, as it were, of His strength and greatness, He overlooks the sins of men (Wisd. xi., 24), but swiftly, after these apparent retreats, awaked like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine (Ps. 1xxvii., 65), He shall break the heads of his enemies (Ps. 1xxvii., 22), that all may know that God is the king of all the earth (Ib. 1xvi, , that the Gentiles may know themselves to be men (Ib. ix., 20). (Pope St. Pius X, E Supremi, 1903 A.D.) How wondrously considerate of us is Gods pity! How priceless a love of charity which would sacrifice a Son to redeem a slave! (Pope Gregory IX, Mira Circa Nos, 1228) Gods love for us is freely given and unearned, surpassing all we could ever hope for or imagine. His love for us does not depend on whether we have merited or are worthy of it. (Pope John Paul II) God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church) God is love, St. John affirms (1 Jn. 4:8). Everything that exists is a reflection of the free love of God, and therefore every creature expresses in some way its infinite splendor. (Pope John Paul II) So great is the impetus of the river of Gods goodness overflowing on mankind, that only the free will of man, which He has given to him in order to receive its benefits, can raise a dam against it; and whenever, through this free will, man resists the influence and force of the divine Goodness, he (according to thy mode of understanding), violates and grieves this immense love to its very essence. But if creatures would place no obstacle and permit its operations, the whole soul would be inundated and satiated with participation in its divine essence and attributes. (Ven. Mary of Agreda) We will call God our charity, not only because we receive it from the Lord, and because He communicates it to us, but because He himself is essential charity, and the overflow of this divine perfection, which we represent to ourselves as a form and attribute of his Divinity, redounds in our souls, transforming it more perfectly and abundantly than any other virtue. (Ven. Mary of Agreda) For I know that my God is not merely bounteous Bestower of my life, the generous Provider for all my needs, the pitiful Consoler of all my sorrows, the wise Guide of my course: but that he is far more than that. He saves me with an abundant deliverance: he is my eternal Preserver, the portion of my inheritance, my glory. (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church) O my God, Thy people know Thee not! Oh, if they only knew Thee, Thou wouldst be loved still more. If they knew Thy Wisdom, Thy omnipotence, Thy goodness, Thy beauty, and all Thy divine attributes, all Thy people would be as the seraphim, afire with divine love. (St. Anthony Mary Claret) We have nothing of our own but our will. It is the only thing which God has so placed in our own power that we can make an offering of it to him. (St. John Vianney) To give ones will to God is to give all. (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church) Perfection does not consist in experiencing consolation. It consists in surrendering ones will to Gods will, whether this be burdensome or easy. (Bl. Henry Suso) Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mould them accordingly. (St. Ignatius Loyola) Let each one remember that he will make progress in all spiritual things only insofar as he rids himself of self-love, self-will, and self-interest. (St. Ignatius Loyola) Our sanctification consists entirely in conformity to the will of God. (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church) To the man who gives himself up to the guidance of the Holy Ghost, there seems to be no world; to the world there seems to be no God. (St. John Vianney) The merit of renouncing ones own will is invariably greater and more precious than getting ones own way. (Bl. John Ruysbroeck) The sacrifice most acceptable to God is complete renunciation of the body and its passions. This is the only real piety. (Clement of Alexandria, 2nd century A.D.) Detachment is the secret of perseverance. (Bl. Sebastian Valfre) You ask me to what you must avoid becoming attached: You must be attached to nothing, neither fortune, nor relations, nor directors, nor interior consolation; there must be nothing in the world which we are not ready to forgo without trouble if God asks it of us. (St. Claude de la Colombiere) A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges and smears of creatures, by uniting its will perfectly to Gods; for to love is to labor to divest and deprive oneself for God of all that is not God. When this is done the soul will be illuminated by and transformed in God. (St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church) Now those who belong to Christ (Jesus) have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. (St. Paul, Gal. 5:24) Putting a curb upon our masterful passions is the noblest and greatest freedom. (Pope Leo XIII, Exeunte Iam Anno, 1888 A.D.) The perfection of a Christian consists in mortifying himself for the love of Christ. Where there is no great mortification, there is no great sanctity. (St. Philip Neri) It is to those who have endured voluntary sufferings in this life that the reward of virtue is vouchsafed (Pope Leo XIII, Octobri Mense, 1891) By our passions are meant our sinful desires and inclinations. Mortifying them means restraining them and overcoming them so that they have less power to lead us into sin. (Baltimore Catechism) Let us chastise our body crucifying it with its vices, concupiscence and sins, because by living according to the flesh, the devil wishes to take away from us the love of Jesus Christ and eternal life and to lose himself in hell with everyone else. (St. Francis of Assisi) It is also true that we should practice mortification in many things to make reparation for our sins. There is no doubt that the person who lives without mortifying himself is someone who will never succeed in saving his soul. (St. John Vianney)
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 09:49:40 +0000
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