"Today He invites us to merit heaven and to make ourselves worthy of it. Then He will, Himself introduce us there, and we will be part of the glorious procession of the elect. Now He is hidden from our eyes under the humility of His sacrament in order to try our faith: then He will [...]
"If men used as much care in uprooting vices and implanting virtues as they do in discussing problems, there would not be so much evil and scandal in the world, or such laxity in religious organizations. On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we had [...]
"Charity took possession of my heart, making me forget myself, and I have been happy ever since." Source: St. Therese of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul, Saint Benedict Press, 2010.
"What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, a flesh 'given life and giving life through the Holy Spirit,' preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of [...]
"When you come to Adoration, to Communion, you should be, as it were, entirely fresh, so that nothing past should burden or occupy your mind, in order that you may be ready to receive whatever impression the good God wishes. You must have peace of mind, and for that end, you must be submissive to [...]
"'Be ye perfect -as your Heavenly Father is perfect.' Here in a few words is the whole Gospel. Here is the end of Jesus Christ’s coming, the aim of the whole Christian life. All the rest of the Gospel merely points out the way and the means to attain that end. To be perfect as [...]
"People do not like the examen. It is the most difficult and the most repugnant act of piety. Because no one likes to behold himself always guilty and always humiliated. It also costs much to reflect on one's thoughts, to analyze and discuss them. One would often prefer some great exterior mortification to some minutes [...]
"My only and infinite Good, I see that Thou hast instituted this Sacrament, and that Thou remainest on this altar, to be loved by me; and that for this end Thou hast given me a heart capable of loving Thee much. Why is it, then, that I am so ungrateful as not to love Thee? [...]
"We ought not to desire ways of serving God which He does not open to us, but rather desire to use what we have rightly." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002.
"The greatest devotion is called for at the moment of receiving this sacrament, because it is then that the effect of the sacrament is bestowed, and such devotion is hindered more by what goes before it than by what comes after it. And therefore it was ordained that men should fast before receiving the sacrament [...]