"Whoever, then, has Christ in his heart, so that no earthly or temporal things – not even those that are legitimate and allowed – are preferred to Him, has Christ as a foundation. But if these things be preferred, then even though a man seems to have faith in Christ, yet Christ is not the [...]
"The Church’s first truth is the love of Christ. The Church makes herself a servant of this love and mediates it to all people: a love that forgives and expresses itself in the gift of oneself. Consequently, wherever the Church is present, the mercy of the Father must be evident. In our parishes, communities, associations [...]
"Moreover, in this most admirable Sacrament, which is the chief means whereby men are engrafted on the divine nature, men also find the most efficacious help towards progress in every kind of virtue." Source: Pope Leo XIII, MIRAE CARITATIS: ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST, May 28, 1902 [...]
"You must practice simplicity and humility, for those are the virtues which achieved everything." Source: Saint Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection, Dover Thrift Editions, 2012.
"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
"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 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 [...]
"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.