Daily quotes on developing virtue from Saints, Popes and others.
"Again God's goodness shows itself here. He could have exacted of His creature absolute service without any recompense. But no. He wills that His service Itself should be useful to us and that, in serving Him, we labor far more for ourselves than for Him." Source: St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Divine Eucharist St. [...]
"The Angels on Jacob’s ladder had wings, yet nevertheless they did not fly, but went in due order up and down the steps of the ladder. The soul which rises from out of sin to a devout life has been compared to the dawn, which does not banish darkness suddenly, but by degrees." Source: [...]
"Where there is genuine virtue, there must be sacrifice as well; one’s whole life must be a sacrifice. It is only by means of sacrifice that souls can become useful." Source: St. Faustina, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul
"Pious humility enables us to submit to what is above us; and nothing is more exalted above us than God; and therefore humility, by making us subject to God, exalts us. But pride, being a defect of nature, by the very act of refusing subjection and revolting from Him who is supreme, falls to a [...]
"The spousal meaning of the body has not become totally foreign to that heart: it has not been totally suffocated in it by concupiscence, but only habitually threatened. The 'heart' has become a battlefield between love and concupiscence. The more concupiscence dominates the heart, the less the heart experiences the gift of the person that [...]
"Institutions by themselves are not enough, because integral human development is primarily a vocation, and therefore it involves free assumption of responsibility in solidarity on the part of everyone. Moreover, such development requires a transcendent vision of the person; it needs God: without him, development is either denied or entrusted exclusively to man, who falls [...]
"We ought to be on our guard, in case our conscience has stopped troubling us, not so much because of its being clear but because of its being immersed in sin. A proof of our having been delivered from our failings is the unceasing acknowledgement of our indebtedness. Nothing equals the mercy of God or [...]
"Lasting happiness can never come from the world. Joy is not derived from the things we get or the people we meet; it is manufactured by the soul itself, as it goes about its self-forgetful business." Source: Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, Way to Happiness, St. Pauls, 1998.
"Never promise yourself security in this life, even though you seem to be a good religious, or a devout hermit. It happens very often that those whom men esteem highly are more seriously endangered by their own excessive confidence. Hence, for many it is better not to be too free from temptations, but often to [...]
"For humility is the principal virtue which must be practiced by those who pray, and, as I have said, it is very fitting that you should try to learn how to practice often: that is one of the chief things to remember about it and it is very necessary that it should be known by [...]