"Love does not consist in words or feelings but in deeds. It is an act of the will; it is a gift; that is to say, a giving. The reason, the will, the heart – these three faculties must be exercised during prayer. I will rise from the dead in Jesus, but first I must [...]
d"The Lord in His Gospel, when He would direct the way of our hope and faith in a brief summary, said, 'The Lord your God is one God: and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment; [...]
"Control your appetites before they control you, and shame will greatly help you to maintain such mastery… So let us restrain our appetites with the thought of the fire to come… For the truth is, as one will discover, that the belly is the cause of all human shipwreck." Source: St. John Climacus, The [...]
"As society is made by man, so man, in his turn is made by his thoughts, his decisions and his choices. Nothing ever happens to the world which did not first happen inside the mind of some man: the material of the skyscraper merely completes the architect’s dream." Source: Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, Way [...]
"Sin is the spiritual death of the soul. Hence man is preserved from future sin in the same way as the body is preserved from future death of the body: and this happens in two ways. First of all, in so far as man's nature is strengthened inwardly against inner decay, and so by means [...]
"Praise adds nothing to your holiness, nor does blame take anything from it. You are what you are, and you cannot be said to be better than you are in God’s sight. If you consider well what you are within, you will not care what men say about you." Source: Thomas a’ Kempis, The [...]
"The grace of the virtues is infused, but their practice is acquired by subsequent labor and attention. They must be cultivated." 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 religious congregation [...]
"Vice mimics virtue, and the tares strive to be thought wheat, growing like the wheat in appearance, but being detected by good judges from the taste." Source: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures
"Only my readiness to encounter my neighbor and to show him love makes me sensitive to God as well. Only if I serve my neighbor can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me… Love of God and love of neighbor are thus inseparable, they form a [...]
"It is not enough for eternal life to sweep the house clean of deadly sin. One must fill it with virtue that is grounded in love, and not merely in fear." Source: St. Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue, Paulist Press, 1980 The Dialogue was dictated by Catherine over a period of five days. Three [...]