John Paul II

From Veritatis Splendor:

Revealed truth, to be sure, surpasses our telling. All our concepts fall short of its ultimately unfathomable grandeur. Nonetheless, revealed truth beckons reason - God's gift fashioned for the assimilation of truth - to enter into its light and thereby come to understand in a certain measure what it has believed.

St. Theophilus of Antioch

It is like this. Those who can see with the eyes of their bodies are aware of what is happening in this life on earth. They get to know things that are different from each other. They distinguish light and darkness, black and white, ugliness and beauty, elegance and inelegance, proportion and lack of proportion, excess and defect. The same is true of the sounds we hear: high or low or pleasant. So it is with the ears of our heart and the eyes of our mind in their capacity to hear or see God.

God is seen by those who have the capacity to see him, provided that they keep the eyes of their mind open. All have eyes, but some have eyes that are shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light of the sun. Because the blind cannot see it, it does not follow that the sun does not shine. The blind must trace the cause back to themselves and their eyes. In the same way, you have eyes in your mind that are shrouded in darkness because of your sins and evil deeds.

A person’s soul should be clean, like a mirror reflecting light. If there is rust on the mirror his face cannot be seen in it. In the same way, no one who has sin within him can see God.

Paul Claudel

Intelligence is nothing without delight.

Helen Steiner Rice

Thank You, God, for little things
that often come our way -
The things we take for granted
but don't mention when we pray -
The unexpected courtesy,
the thoughtful, kindly deed -
A hand reached out to help us
in the time of sudden need -
Oh make us more aware, dear God,
of little daily graces
That come to us with "sweet surprise"
from never-dreamed-of places.

Mother Angelica

Where most men work for degrees after their names, we work for one before our names: 'St.' It's a much more difficult degree to attain. It takes a lifetime, and you don't get your diploma until you're dead.

Joseph Pieper

I look upon things - but this reality spread out before my eyes is illuminated by a light at which I do not look, which is, rather, situated behind my back but which illuminates things to my eyes only if I "believe."

St. Francis de Sales

Accept this cross a thousand times a day; kiss it gladly for the love of Him who sends it to you out of love and as a rich present.

St. Padre Pio

As regards your fear of offending God and of not knowing how to please Him, I beseech you to calm your anxiety. Believe the assurances of authority which tells you, on behalf of God, that however you act, as long as you do not clearly see your actions to be contrary to the law of God and the established authorities, Jesus is always pleased with you, when your actions are directed for the glory of God.

Fulton J. Sheen

Hearing nuns’ confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.

Seven Petitions to the Holy Cross

Lord Jesus Christ, for the sake of Thy holy Cross, be with me to shield me. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, by the memory of Thy blessed Cross, be within me to strengthen me. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, for Thy holy Cross, be ever round about me to protect me. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, for Thy glorious Cross, go before me to direct my steps. Amen.

Lord, Jesus Christ, for Thy adorable Cross, come Thou after me to guard me. Amen.

Lord, Jesus Christ, for Thy Cross, worthy of all praise, overshadow me to bless me. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, for Thy noble Cross, be Thou in me to lead me to Thy kingdom. Amen.

St. Leo the Great

The Lord reveals his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses. His body is like that of the rest of mankind, but he makes it shine with such splendour that his face becomes like the sun in glory, and his garments as white as snow.

The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of his disciples, and to prevent the humiliation of his voluntary suffering from disturbing the faith of those who had witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed.

With no less forethought he was also providing a firm foundation for the hope of holy Church. The whole body of Christ was to understand the kind of transformation that it would receive as his gift. the members of that body were to look forward to a share in that glory which first blazed out in Christ their head.

St. Faustina

O my Jesus, my only hope, thank You for the book which You have opened before my soul's eyes. That book is Your Passion which You underwent for love of me. It is from this book that I have learned how to love God and souls. In this book there are found for us inexhaustible treasures. O Jesus, how few souls understand You in Your martyrdom of love! Oh, how great is the fire of purest love which burns in Your Most Sacred Heart! Happy the soul that has come to understand the love of the Heart of Jesus!

St. Ignatius

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve Thee as Thou deservest, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wound, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to seek reward, save that of feeling that I do Thy will.  

Eucharistic Prayer

Panem coelestem accipiam et nomen Domini invocabo.

(I will receive the heavenly Bread and call on the name of the Lord.)

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Breathe into me Holy Spirit, that all my thoughts may be holy. Act in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy. Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy. Guard me, Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.  Amen.

Catechism 1817

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.  

St. Augustine

[Jesus] made us one with Him when He chose to be tempted by Satan....In Christ you were tempted, for Christ received His flesh from your nature, by His own power gained salvation for you...If in Christ we have been tempted, in Him we overcome the devil. Do you think only of Christ's temptations and fail to think of His victory? See yourself as tempted in Him, and see yourself as victorious in Him. He could have kept the devil from Himself; but if He were not tempted He could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.

Paul Claudel

The Gospel has not completed its mission. It has something new and old to teach each generation as it arises - something especially for our own ear, which our fathers never heard; an explanation, perhaps a way of looking at things, a task, fresh orders.

Prayer Before a Crucifix

Behold, O good and sweetest Jesus,
I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight,
and with the most fervent desire of my soul
I pray and beseech Thee
to impress upon my heart
lively sentiments of faith,
hope and charity,
with true repentance for my sins
and a most firm desire of amendment:
whilst with deep affection and grief of soul
I consider within myself
and mentally contemplate Thy five most precious Wounds,
having before mine eyes that which David, the prophet,
long ago spoke in Thine own person concerning Thee,
my Jesus: “They have pierced My hands and My feet,
they have numbered all My bones.”

St. Francis de Sales

My God, I give You this day. I offer You, now, all of the good I shall do and I promise to accept, for love of You, all of the difficulty that I shall meet. Help me to conduct myself during this day in a manner pleasing to You. Amen.

St. John Chrysologus

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Helen Keller

Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.

Mother Teresa

Prayer is a joy.  Prayer is the sunshine of God's love, prayer is hope of eternal happiness, prayer is the burning flame of God's love for you and for me.  Let us pray for each other, for this is the best way to love one another.

St. Jerome

Be ever engaged, so that whenever the devil calls he may find you occupied.

St. Anthony of Padua

The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.

St. Francis de Sales

Just be very faithful about staying near God, gently and quietly attentive to Him in your heart, sleeping in the arms of His providence, peacefully accepting His holy will, for all this pleases Him.

Lumen Gentium

For this reason the laity, dedicated to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and wonderfully prepared so that ever more abundant fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them. For all their works, prayers and apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married and family life, their daily occupations, their physical and mental relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently borne—all these become "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ". Together with the offering of the Lord's body, they are most fittingly offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus, as those everywhere who adore in holy activity, the laity consecrate the world itself to God.

Douglas Mosey, C.S.B.

From the Church Fathers we can take confidence that Tradition is not a static hanging on to the past, but an enthusiastic sense of security and freedom, of being able to develop and grow but knowing from where we come and knowing that we have our feet firmly planted in the rich heritage of the past that has been mediated down through the centuries.

Hans Urs von Balthasar

Without a doubt, at the center of the New Testament there stands the Cross, which receives its interpretation from the Resurrection.