Daily quotes on developing virtue from Saints, Popes and others.
"One of the most evil dispositions possible is that which satirizes and turns everything to ridicule. God abhors this vice, and has sometimes punished it in a marked manner. Nothing is so opposed to Charity, much more to a devout spirit, as contempt and depreciation of one’s neighbor, and where satire and ridicule exist contempt [...]
"As regards Holy Confession, I shall choose what costs and humiliates me most. Sometimes a trifle costs more than something greater. I will call to mind the Passion of Jesus at each confession, to arouse my heart to contrition." Source: St. Faustina, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul
"In fact, Christ realized and showed the freedom that finds its fullness in love, the freedom thanks to which we 'serve one another'; in other words: the freedom that becomes the source of new 'works' and of 'life' according to the Spirit. The antithesis and in some way the negation of this freedom takes place [...]
"The ego has a peculiar way of disguising the real reasons for its love. It can pretend to be interested in another’s welfare while actually it is seeking its own pleasure." Source: Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, Way to Happiness, St. Pauls, 1998.
"If you do not know how to meditate on heavenly things, direct your thoughts to Christ’s passion and willingly behold His sacred wounds. If you turn devoutly to the wounds and precious stigmata of Christ, you will find great comfort in suffering, you will mind but little the scorn of men, and you will easily [...]
"If you take not my word for this marvelous virtue (penance/mortification), try it yourselves, for a time, at least; and when you shall have had a taste of it, ah! you will not give it up. You must become convinced of it, enthusiastic over it, for to do anything well, to arrive at the possession [...]
"I am filled with shame and confusion when I reflect on one hand upon the great favors which God has done, and incessantly continues to do me; and on the other, upon the ill use I have made of them, and my small advancement in the way of perfection." Source: Brother Lawrence, The Practice [...]
"There are two ways of honoring Our Lord by penance; the one is inspired by negative love, the other by positive love. By the first, we prevent evil or we correct it. It is necessary, but it makes us act only through the strict duty of Christian justice. For the practice of this kind of [...]
"The first inducement to attain this second purification is a keen and lively apprehension of the great evils resulting from sin, by means of which we acquire a deep, hearty contrition." Source: St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Random House, Inc., 2002.
"The source of this pride is their selfish love for themselves. Everything here is the exact opposite of what I have told you about true obedience. How can these wretches, bereft of charity, be otherwise than in pain? They are forced to bow the head of their will while pride holds it high. Their every [...]