"The true lover of Christ, however, who sincerely pursues virtue, does not fall back upon consolations nor seek such pleasures of sense, but prefers severe trials and hard labors for the sake of Christ." Source: Thomas a’ Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Dover Thrift Editions, 1940.
"I am sorry for people who lose their souls; it is so easy to miss your way when the paths of the world seem so attractive." Source: St. Therese of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul, Saint Benedict Press, 2010.
"Labor, then, in an orderly manner to acquire virtues. Pursue the work with the spirit of observation, with constancy. Proceed always by principle." Source: St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Divine Eucharist St. Peter Julian Eymard was a priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. This religious order is "a Catholic [...]
"The willing desire to suffer every pain and hardship even to the point of death for the salvation of souls is pleasing to [God]." 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 up with Catherine [...]
"If you have eyes for the shortcomings of your neighbor and not for your own, no feeling of mercy will arise in you but rather indignation. You will be more ready to judge than to help, to crush in the spirit of anger than to instruct in the spirit of gentleness. 'You who are spiritual, [...]
"The Church’s deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments (leitourgia), and exercising the ministries of charity (diakonia). These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable. For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others, [...]
"Society can be saved only if man is saved from his unbearable conflicts, and man can be rescued from them only if his soul is saved." Source: Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, Way to Happiness, St. Pauls, 1998.
"It is when I possess least that I have the fewest worries and the Lord knows that, as far as I can tell, I am more afflicted when there is excess of anything than when there is lack of it." Source: Saint Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, Dover Thrift Editions, 2012. [...]
"Virtue is a plant from Calvary, which Our Lord confides to us that we may cultivate it with blood and tears. Its strength is in its root, which strikes into the soil of the soul. If through frivolity you leave that root uncovered, the shrub will die." Source: St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Divine [...]
"Love of neighbor, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful, but it is also a responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level: from the local community to the particular Church and to the Church universal in her entirety. As a community, [...]