"The obedient have no desire to obey in their own way, to choose the time and the place; they would rather follow the rule and their superiors." Source: St. Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue, Paulist Press, 1980 The Dialogue was dictated by Catherine over a period of five days. Three scribes worked to keep [...]
"After what we have said above, it must be held most certainly that the whole Christ is under each sacramental species yet not alike in each. For the body of Christ is indeed present under the species of bread by the power of the sacrament, while the blood is there from real concomitance, as stated [...]
"To every soul who visits Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, He addresses the words which He said to the Sacred Spouse: 'Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come.' Thou soul which visitest Me, 'arise' from thy miseries; I am here to enrich thee with graces. 'Make haste,' approach, come [...]
"For life is not the same thing as virtue, since not every life, but a wisely regulated life, is virtue; and yet, while there can be life of some kind without virtue, there cannot be virtue without life. This I might apply to memory and reason, and such mental faculties; for these exist prior to [...]
St. Homobonus is one of my favorite saints. St. Francis, St. Ignatius, St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Katherine Drexel and many others are favorites too, but these are all priests or religious. Homobonus was a lay man, a husband and a business man. For these [...]
"I should like to ask those who are afraid to pray for trials lest they should at once be given them what the mean when they beg the Lord to fulfill His will in them. Do they say this because everyone else says it and not because they want it to be done?" Source: [...]
"Set to work to destroy in yourself all that is not pleasing to Jesus Christ, to speak willingly to those who have caused you pain, to be pleased to see them, to love them sincerely, to practice the perfect renouncement of yourselves and you will see how your Communion will carry you forward with great [...]
"Now, of all the sacraments it is the Holy Eucharist that brings to fullness their initiation as Christians and confers upon the exercise of the common priesthood that sacramental and ecclesial form that links it-as we mentioned before-to the exercise of the ministerial priesthood. In this way eucharistic worship is the center and goal of [...]
"You have chosen the love of Jesus Christ. Well, then, He must be your law, your model, your centre, and your end! To live for Him, you must live of Him and by Him. This demands that we should declare war against the human ego, against self-love; that we must clothe ourselves with the strength [...]
"St. Teresa says, that this great King of Glory has disguised Himself in the Sacrament under the species of bread, and that He has concealed His Majesty, to encourage us to approach His Divine Heart with greater confidence. Let us, then, draw near to Jesus with great confidence and affection; let us unite ourselves to [...]