A Rotating List of Citations from the Writings and or Biographies of the Saints ABORTION--------AFFLICTION--------ALMSGIVING AMBITION--------ANGELS --------ARIDITY, SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY---------BAD COMPANY--------BAPTISM BEAUTY---------BELIEF---------BOOKS CHARITY--------CHILDREN---------CHRIST CHURCH, THE CATHOLIC--------COMMUNION, DAILY COMMUNION OF SAINTS--------CONFESSION--------CONSCIENCE CONTEMPLATION-----------CONVERSION CORRECTION--------COURAGE AND FORTITUDE CREATION AND CREATURES--------THE CROSS ABORTION A woman who deliberately destroys a fetus is answerable for murder. And any fine distinction between its being completely formed or unformed is not admissible among us. --------St. Basil the Great AFFLICTION The more we are afflicted in this world, the greater is our assurance in the next; the more sorrow in the present, the greater will be our joy in the future. --------St. Isadore of Seville Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent. --------St. John of the Cross Many would be willing to have afflictions provided that they not be inconvenienced by them. --------St. Francis de Sales ALMSGIVING The bread you store up belongs to the hungry; the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked; the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor. --------St. Basil the Great The rich man who gives to the poor does not bestow alms but pays a debt. --------St. Ambrose of Milan It would be considered a theft on our part if we didn't give to someone in greater need than we are. --------St. Francis of Assisi AMBITION The only true riches are those that make us rich in virtue. Therefore, if you ant to be rich, beloved, love true riches. If you aspire to the heights of real honor, strive to reach the kingdom of Heaven. If you value rank and renown, hasten to be enrolled in the heavenly court of the Angels. --------Pope St. Gregory the Great ANGELS Make yourself familiar with the Angels, and behold them frequently in spirit. Without being seen, they are present with you. --------St. Francis de Sales Beside each believer stands an Angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life. --------St. Basil the Great When tempted, invoke your Angel. he is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him: He trembles and flees at the sight of your Guardian Angel. --------St. John Bosco I bind to myself today the power in the love of the Seraphim, in the obedience of the Angels, in the ministration of the Archangels, in the hope of Resurrection unto reward, in the prayers of the Patriarchs, in the predictions of the Prophets, in the preaching of the Apostles, in the faith of the Confessors, in the purity of the holy Virgins, in the deeds of Righteous men. --------St. Patrick of Ireland ARIDITY, SPIRITUAL One single act done with aridity of spirit is worth more than many done with feelings of devotion. --------St.  Francis de Sales AUTHORITY It is right to submit to a higher authority whenever a command of God would be violated. --------St. Basil the Great BAD COMPANY If I had to advise parents, I should tell them to take great care about the people with whom their children associate . . . Much harm may result from bad company, and we are inclined by nature to follow what is worse than what is better. --------St. Elizabeth Ann Seton BAPTISM The Lord was Baptized, not to be cleansed Himself, but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of Baptism. --------St. Ambrose of Milan Just as a man cannot live in the flesh unless he is born in the flesh, even so a man cannot have the spiritual life of grace unless he is born again spiritually. This regeneration is effected by Baptism: "Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" [Jn 3:5]. --------St. Thomas Aquinas BEAUTY Christ has made my soul beautiful with the jewels of grace and virtue. I belong to Him Whom the Angels serve. --------St. Agnes BELIEF We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves. --------St. Thomas Aquinas BOOKS Never read books you aren't sure about . . . even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup? --------St. John Bosco CHARITY True virtue has no limits, but goes on and on, and especially holy charity, which is the virtue of virtues, and which having a definite object, would become infinite if it could meet with a heart capable of infinity. --------St. Francis de Sales CHILDREN You can do nothing with children unless you win their confidence and love by bringing them into touch with yourself, by breaking through all the hindrances that keep them at a distance. We must accommodate ourselves to their tastes, we must make ourselves like them. --------St. John Bosco CHRIST When we speak about wisdom, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about virtue, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about justice, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about peace, we are speaking of Christ. When we speak about truth and life and redemption, we are speaking of Christ. --------St. Ambrose of Milan Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in lying down, Christ in sitting, Christ in rising up, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. --------St. Patrick of Ireland If, then, you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because He Himself is the way. --------St. Thomas Aquinas This Blood that but one drop of has the power to win All the world forgiveness of its world of sin. --------St. Thomas Aquinas Mount Calvaryis the academy of love. --------St. Francis de Sales I bind myself today The might of the Incarnation of Christ with that of His Baptism, The might of His Crucifixion with that of His Burial, The might of His Resurrection with that of His Ascension, The might of His Coming on the Judgment Day. --------St. Patrick of Ireland CHURCH, THE CATHOLIC There is but one Church in which men find salvation, just as outside the ark of Noah it was not possible for anyone to be saved. --------St. Thomas Aquinas Just as in one man there is one soul and one body, yet many members; even so the Catholic Church is one body, having many members. The soul that quickens this body is the Holy Spirit; and therefore in the Creed after confessing our belief in the Holy Spirit, we are bid to believe in the Holy Catholic Church. --------St. Thomas Aquinas I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself. --------St. Elizabeth Ann Seton The Church has ever proved indestructible. Her persecutors have failed to destroy her; in fact, it was during times of persecution that the Church grew more and more; while the persecutors themselves, and those whom the Church would destroy, are the very ones who came to nothing.  . . . Again, errors have assailed her; but in fact, the greater the number of errors that have arisen, the more has the truth been made manifest. . . . Nor has the Church failed before the assaults of demons: for she is like a tower of refuge to all who fight against the Devil. --------St. Thomas Aquinas Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church. --------St. Thomas Aquinas COMMUNION, DAILY If it is "daily bread," why do you take it once a year? . . . Take daily what is to profit you daily. Live in such a way that you may deserve to receive it daily. He who does not deserve to receive it daily, does not deserve to receive it once a year. --------St. Ambrose of Milan If someone knows from experience that daily Communion increases fervor without lessening reverence, then let him go every day. But if someone finds that reverence is lessened and devotion not much increased, then let him sometimes abstain, so as to draw near afterwards with better dispositions. --------St. Thomas Aquinas COMMUNION OF SAINTS What do they not see, who see Him Who sees all things? --------Pope St. Gregory the Great Just as in a physical body the operation of one member contributes to the good of the whole body, so it is in a spiritual body such as the Church. And since all the faithful are one body, the good of one member is communicated to another; everyone members, as the Apostle says, of one another [Eph 4:25]. For that reason, among the points of faith handed down by the Apostles, is that there is a community of goods in the Church, and this is expressed in the words Communion of Saints. --------St. Thomas Aquinas The greater the charity of the Saints in their heavenly home, the more they intercede for those who are still on their journey and the more they can help them by their prayers; the more they are united with God, the more effective those prayers are. This is in accordance with Divine order, which makes higher things react upon lower things, like the brightness of the sun filling the atmosphere. --------St. Thomas Aquinas CONFESSION To do penance is to bewail the evil we have done, and to do no evil to bewail. --------Pope St. Gregory the Great Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin, all hope consists in confession; in confession there is a chance for mercy. --------St. Isidore of Seville In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance. --------St. Thomas Aquinas Three conditions are necessary for Penance: contrition, which is sorrow for sin, together with a purpose of amendment; confession of sins without any omission; and satisfaction by means of good works. --------St. Thomas Aquinas The minister to whom confession is made is the delegate of Christ, Who is the Judge of the living and the dead. --------St. Thomas Aquinas Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls. --------St. Francis de Sales Our Lord Himself I saw in . . . this venerable Sacrament  . . . I felt as if my chains fell, as those of St. Peter at the touch of the Divine messenger. My God, what new scenes for my soul! --------St. Elizabeth Ann Seton CONSCIENCE God desires from you the least degree of purity of conscience more than all the works you can perform. --------St. John of the Cross CONTEMPLATION The greatness of contemplation can be given to none but those who love. --------Pope St. Gregory the Great Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate. --------St. Thomas Aquinas Contemplation is nothing else than a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion of God, which if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of love. --------St. John of the Cross Whoever wishes to hold the fortress of contemplation must first of all train in the camp of action. --------Pope St. Gregory the Great We ascend to the heights of contemplation by the steps of action. --------Pope St. Gregory the Great In the active life all the vices are first of all to be removed by the practice of good works, so that in the contemplative life a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass on to the contemplation of the Divine Light. --------St. Isidore of Seville CONVERSION There are in truth three states of the converted: the beginning, the middle, and the perfection. In the beginning they experience the charms of sweetness; in the middle the contests of temptation; and in the end the fullness of perfection. --------Pope St. Gregory the Great You can win more converts with a spoonful of honey than with a barrelful of vinegar. --------St. Francis de Sales CORRECTION Reprimand and rebuke should be accepted as healing remedies for vice and as conducive to good health. From this it is clear that those who pretend to be tolerant because they wish to flatter-----those who thus fail to correct sinners-----actually cause them to suffer supreme loss and plot the destruction of that life which is their true life. --------St. Basil the Great COURAGE AND FORTITUDE The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them. --------St. Thomas Aquinas Though the path is plain and smooth for men of good will, he who walks it will not travel far, and will do so only with difficulty, if he does not have good feet: that is, courage and a persevering spirit. --------St. John of the Cross CREATION AND CREATURES If there is anyone who is not enlightened by this sublime magnificence of created things, he is blind. If there is anyone who, seeing all these works of God, does not praise Him, he is dumb; if there is anyone who, from so many signs, cannot perceive God, that man is foolish. --------St. Bonaventure In everything, whether it is a thing sensed or a thing known, God Himself is hidden within. --------St. Bonaventure God passes through the thicket of the world, and wherever His glance falls He turns all things to beauty. --------St. John of the Cross THE CROSS Whoever does not seek the cross of Christ doesn't seek the glory of Christ. --------St. John of the Cross HOME--------------IMAGE AND QUOTE OF THE WEEK www.catholictradition.org/Saints/saintly-quotes2.htm