Chastidy quotes from the Saints

"More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason." (Our Lady of Fatima)

"Holy Purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh." (St. John Bosco)

'We must practise modesty, not only in our looks, but also in our whole deportment, and particularly in our dress, our walk, our conversation, and all similar actions.' (St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori)

"You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. ... When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body but the soul. And it is not to enemies you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity , nor provoked by injury , but out of foolish vanity and pride." (Saint John Chrysostom)

”Some complain that mankind will fail if so many are consecrated virgins. I desire to know who ever wanted a wife and could not find one? The killing of an adulterer, the pursuing or waging war against a ravisher, are the consequences of marriage. The number of people is greatest where virginity is most esteemed. Enquire how many virgins are consecrated every year at Alexandria, all over the East and in Africa, where there are more virgins than men in the country.” (Saint Ambrose, Father and Doctor of the Church)

"The state of grace is nothing other than purity, and it gives heaven to those who clothe themselves in it. Holiness, therefore, is simply the state of grace purified, illuminated, beautified by the most perfect purity, exempt not only from mortal sin but also from the smallest faults; purity will make saints of you! Everything lies in this! (St. Peter Eymard)

"God bestows more consideration on the purity of the intention with which our actions are performed than on the actions themselves." 
(St. Augustine)

"Far be it from Christians that to do such deeds [as our done by pagan sinners] should enter their mind; for temperance dwells with them, self-restraint is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is guarded, injustice is exterminated, sin is rooted out, righteousness is exercised, law is ministered, reverence is preserved, God is acknowledged: truth controls, grace guards, peace protects, the holy word guides, wisdom teaches, life directs, God reigns." (Saint Theophilus of Antioch)

"He alone loves the Creator perfectly who manifests a pure love for his neighbor."  (Saint Bede the Venerable)

”Chastity is the lily of virtues, and makes men almost equal to Angels. Everything is beautiful in accordance with its purity. Now the purity of man is chastity, which is called honesty, and the observance of it, honor and also integrity; and its contrary is called corruption; in short, it has this peculiar excellence above the other virtues, that it preserves both soul and body fair and unspotted.” (Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church)

”What is more comely than chastity, which makes one generated from impure seed pure; an enemy, a friend; and a man, an Angel? There is a difference, indeed, between a chaste man and an Angel, but in happiness, not in virtue; the Angel's chastity is more happy; but man's is more proved.” (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church)

”Chastity, or cleanness of heart, holds a glorious and distinguished place among the virtues, because she, alone, enables man to see God; hence Truth itself said, ‘Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.’” (Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church)

”There is no remedy so powerful against the heat of concupiscence as the remembrance of our Savior’s Passion. In all my difficulties I never found anything so efficacious as the wounds of Christ: In them I sleep secure; from them I derive new life.” (Saint Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church)

”If you desire to be chaste, be retired, be modest, be mortified.”
(Saint Leonard of Port Maurice)

“A clean heart is a free heart. A free heart can love Christ with an undivided love in chastity, convinced that nothing and nobody will separate it from his love. Purity, chastity, and virginity created a special beauty in Mary that attracted God’s attention. He showed his great love for the world by giving Jesus to her.” (Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

”A pure soul is like a fine pearl. As long as it is hidden in the shell, at the bottom of the sea, no one thinks of admiring it. But if you bring it into the sunshine, this pearl will shine and attract all eyes. Thus the pure soul, which is hidden from the eyes of the world, will one day shine before the Angels in the sunshine of eternity.” (Saint John Marie Vianney)

”The pure soul is a beautiful rose, and the Three Divine Persons descend from Heaven to inhale its fragrance.” (Saint John Marie Vianney)

”Like a beautiful white dove rising from the midst of the waters, and coming to shake her wings over the earth, the Holy Spirit issues from the infinite ocean of the Divine perfections, and hovers over pure souls, to pour into them the balm of love. The Holy Spirit reposes in a pure soul as in a bed of roses. There comes forth from a soul in which the Holy Spirit resides a sweet odor, like that of the vine when it is in flower.”
(Saint John Marie Vianney)

'We must be pure. I do not speak merely of the purity of the senses. We must observe great purity in our will, in our intentions, in all our actions.' (St. Peter Julian Eymard)

"God desires from you the least degree of purity of conscience more than all the works you can perform." (St. John of the Cross)

"Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit."  
(St. Lucy)

"God demands great purity of certain souls, and so He gives them a deeper knowledge of their own misery. Illuminated by light from on high, the soul can better know what pleases God and what does not."
 (St. Faustina)

"Only the chaste man and the chaste woman are capable of true love." (Pope John Paul II)

”Humility is the safeguard of chastity. In the matter of purity, there is no greater danger than not fearing the danger. For my part, when I find a man secure of himself and without fear, I give him up for lost I am less alarmed for one who is tempted and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid occasions. When a person puts himself in an occasion, saying, I shall not fall, it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall, and with great injury to his soul.” (Saint Philip Neri)

"Never talk of impure things or events, not even to deplore them. Look, it's a subject that sticks more than tar. Change the conversation, or if that's not possible, continue, but speaking of the need and beauty of holy purity--a virtue of the men who know what their souls are worth." 
(St. Josemaria Escriva)

"Chastity is a difficult, long term matter; one must wait patiently for it to bear fruit, for the happiness of loving kindness which it must bring. But at the same time, chastity is the sure way to happiness." (Pope John Paul II)

"In the realm of evil thoughts none induces to sin as much as do thoughts that concern the pleasure of the flesh." (St. Thomas Aquinas)

"In temptations against chastity, the spiritual masters advise us, not so much to contend with the bad thought, as to turn the mind to some spiritual, or, at least, indifferent object. It is useful to combat other bad thoughts face to face, but not thoughts of impurity."
(St. Alphonsus Liguori)

"Deep within yourself, listen to your conscience which calls you to be pure . . . a home is not warmed by the fire of pleasure which burns quickly like a pile of withered grass. Passing encounters are only a caricature of love; they injure hearts and mock God's plan."
(Pope John Paul II)

"The man of impure speech is a "person whose lips are but an opening and a supply pipe which hell uses to vomit its impurities upon the earth." (St. John Vianney)

"That conversation . . . was as dirty as a sewer! It is not enough for you to take no part in it. You must show your repugnance to it strongly!" 
(St. Josemaria Escriva)

"Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity." (St. Jerome)

"Lust indulged became habit, and habit unresisted became necessity." 
(St. Augustine)

"Many live like angels in the middle of the world. You, … why not you?" (St. Josemaria Escriva)

"When you decide firmly to lead a clean life, chastity will not be a burden on you: it will be a crown of triumph." (St. Josemaria Escriva)

"When you have sought the company of a sensual satisfaction, what loneliness afterward!" (St. Josemaria Escriva)

"To defend his purity, Saint Francis of Assisi rolled in the snow, Saint Benedict threw himself into a thornbush, Saint Bernard plunged into an icy pond . . . You . . . what have you done?" (St. Josemaria Escriva)

'O virgins, know you this, that while you retain your Virginity you are ever accompanied with Angels. Not so is it with her who is married, and is joined in matrimony. Knowest thou not that the merit of the virgin is said to be one hundred, and the merit of the married woman thirty, and of the widow sixty? Seest thou by how much the virgin doth exceed the other estates? O virgins be wise to maintain yourselves as you are; flee the sight of man!' (St. Bernardine of Siena)

'What then did the Lord, the Truth and the Light, accomplish on coming down to the world? He preserved His flesh incorrupt in virginity with which he had adorned it. And so let us too, if we are to come to the likeness of God, endeavor to aspire to the virginity of Christ.'
(St. Methodius of Olympus)

Faith Quotes from the Saints

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."  (St. Augustine)

"Faith has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that are not in hand." (Saint Thomas Aquinas)

"I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind." (St. Bernard)

"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)

"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)

'Do not distress yourself on account of any distaste or dryness you experience in God's service. He wills that you should serve Him fervently and constantly it is true, but without any other help than simple faith, and thus your love will be more disinterested, and your service the more pleasing to Him.'
(St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)

"It is not the actual physical exertion that counts toward a man's progress, nor the nature of the task, but the spirit of faith with which it is undertaken."  (St. Francis Xavier)

"The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours for ever. Since it is by giving alms that everything is pure for you, you will also receive that blessing which is promised next by the Lord: the Godhead that no man has been able to see. In the inexpressible joy of this eternal vision, human nature will possess what eye has not seen or ear heard, what man's heart has never conceived." (Pope St. Leo the Great)

"It is because of faith that we exchange the present for the future."  (St Fidelis of Sigmaringe)

"If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!"  (St. Catherine of Sienna)

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.” (Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” (St. Thomas Aquinas)

"If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself."  (Saint Augustine)

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” (Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

“One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.” (St. Joan of Arc)

"Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith." (Saint Francis Assisi)

"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)

"Faithfulness in little things is a big thing." (St. John Chrysostom)

'The acquisition of faith leads successively to fear of God, restraint from sensual pleasure, the patient endurance of suffering, hope in God, dispassion and love.' 
(St. Thalassios the Libyan)

Heaven Quotes from the Saints

'No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God.'  
(St. Anselm of Canterbury)

'If you wish to take up your abode in the tabernacle of the heavenly kingdom, you must reach there through your good works, without which you can not hope to enter.' (St. Benedict)

'If you truly love God and long to reach the kingdom that is to come, if you are truly pained by your failings and are mindful of punishment and of the eternal judgement, if you are truly afraid to die, then it will not be possible to have an attachment, or anxiety, or concern for money, for possessions, for family relationships, for worldly glory, for love and brotherhood, indeed for anything on earth. All worry about one's condition, even for one's body, will be pushed aside as hateful. Stripped of all thought of these, caring nothing about them, one will turn freely to Christ.
One will look to heaven and to the help coming from there, as in the scriptural sayings: "I will cling close to you" (Ps. 62:9) and "I have not grown tired of following you nor have I longed for the day or the rest that man gives" (Jer. 17:16).' (St. John Climacus)

'According to St. Bonaventure, all the angels in heaven unceasingly call out to her: "Holy, holy, holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God." They greet her countless times each day with the angelic greeting, "Hail, Mary", while prostrating themselves before her, begging her as a favour to honour them with one of her requests. According to St. Augustine, even St. Michael, though prince of all the heavenly court, is the most eager of all the angels to honour her and lead others to honour her. At all times he awaits the privilege of going at her word to the aid of one of her servants.'  - (St. Louis Marie de Montfort)

'A precious crown is reserved in Heaven for those who perform all their actions with all the diligence of which they are capable; for it is not sufficient to do our part well, it must be done more than well.'  (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

'Let us think, if we only got to heaven, what a sweet and easy thing it will be there to be always saying with the angels and the saints, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.' (St. Philip Neri)

'The path to Heaven is narrow, rough and full of wearisome and trying ascents, nor can it be trodden without great toil; and therefore wrong is their way, gross their error, and assured their ruin who, after the testimony of so many thousands of saints, will not learn where to settle their footing.'  (St. Robert Southwell)

'He who beholds Heaven with a pure eye, sees better the darkness of earth; for, although the latter seems to have some brilliancy, it disappears before the splendor of the heavens.'
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)

'You must either suffer in this life or give up the hope of seeing God in Heaven. Sufferings and persecutions are of the greatest avail to us, because we can find therein a very efficient means to make atonement for our sins, since we are bound to suffer for them either in this world or in the next.' 
(St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars)

'O my dear parishioners, let us endeavor to get to heaven! There we shall see God. How happy we shall feel! If the parish is converted we shall go there in procession with the parish priest at the head. . . We must get to heaven! What a pity it would be if some of you were to find yourselves on the other side!'
(St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars)

'Beside all this, a more wonderful grace is bestowed upon the Saints in heaven: for they know not only them with whom they were acquainted in this world, but also those whom before they never saw, and converse with them in such familiar sort as though in times past they had seen and known one another: and therefore when they shall see the ancient fathers in that place of perpetual bliss, they shall then know them by sight, whom always they knew in their lives and conversation. For seeing they do in that place with unspeakable brightness, common to all, behold God, what is there that they know not, that know him who knoweth all things?' - (Pope St. Gregory the Great)

Quotes on the Catholic Church

Quotes on the Catholic Church

'I am sent to you to confute, not to embrace your heresy. The Catholic religion is the faith of all ages, I fear not death. . . Pardon my enemies, O Lord: blinded by passion they know not what they do. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Mary, Mother of God, succor me!' (St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, upon his death)

"Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."
(St. Ignatius of Antioch)

"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)

"There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church. Which is, of course, quite a different thing."  (Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen)

"The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church's history." (Pope John Paul II)

"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)

'That which I fear is not the Commune of Paris - no - that which I fear is liberal Catholicism. . . I have said so more than forty times, and I repeat it to you now, through the love that I bear you. The real scourge of France is Liberal Catholicism, which endeavors to unite two principles as repugnant to each other as fire and water.' (Pope Bl. Pius IX)

"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)

"Either Christ has a Church in the world continually and until the end of the world, or else He has a Church sometimes, and sometimes not at all. Could we think that He had a Church while He was here Himself, and perhaps awhile after, but mysteriously none since? . . . No . . . that can in no way be, since He must necessarily still preserve His Church somewhere; otherwise, how could He be with His followers continually until the end of the world? "(St. Thomas More)

"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)

"The extremities of the earth, and all in every part of it who purely and rightly confess the Lord look directly towards the most holy Roman Church and its confession and faith, as it were to a sun of unfailing light, awaiting from it the bright radiance of the sacred dogmas of our Fathers according to what the six inspired and holy councils have purely and piously decreed, declaring most expressly the symbol of faith. For from the coming down of the incarnate Word amongst us, all the Churches in every part of the world have held that greatest Church alone as their base and foundation, seeing that according to the promise of Christ our Saviour, the gates of hell do never prevail against it, that it has the keys of a right confession and faith in Him, that it opens the true and only religion to such as approach with piety, and shuts up and locks every heretical mouth that speaks injustice against the Most High."
(St. Maximos the Confessor)

God's Will Quotes

God's Will Quotes

'Blessed the one who in accordance with God's will loves self-mastery and has not been condemned, thanks to his stomach, as a pleasure seeker and defiled, for such a one will be magnified by the Lord.' 
(St. Ephrem of Syria)

"Every creature, whether it will or not, is subject to the one God and Lord; but a warning is given to us, to serve the Lord with our whole will, because the just man serves Him willingly, but the unjust serves Him as a slave." (Saint Augustine)

'God gives each one of us sufficient grace ever to know His holy will, and to do it fully.' (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

"A man makes the most progress and merits the most grace precisely in those matters wherein he gains the greatest victories over self and most mortifies his will." (St. Francis de Sales)

"Lord what wilt Thou have me do? Behold the true sign of a totally perfect soul: when one has reached the point of giving up his will so completely that he no longer seeks , expects or desires to do ought but that which God wills."  (St. Bernard)

"God made known to me, what true love consists in and gave light to me about how, in practice, to give proof of it to Him. True love of God consists in carrying out God's will. To show God our love in what we do, all our actions, even the least, must spring from our love of God." 
(from the Diary of Saint Faustina)

"You well know that I preferred his company to all the delights of the world. But since it has pleased You to take him from me, I accept Your will completely." (St. Elizabeth ,on the death of her husband)

"A soul who is really resigned to God's will does not become attached to any created thing because he sees clearly that all things are nothing except God." (Blessed Henry Susone)

'All that the beginner in prayer has to do -- and you must not forget this, for it is very important -- is to labour and be resolute and prepare himself with all possible diligence to bring his will into conformity with the will of God. As I shall say later, you may be quite sure that this comprises the very greatest perfection which can be attained on the spiritual road.' 
(St. Teresa of Jesus)

'More determination is required to subdue the interior man than to mortify the body; and to break one's will than to break one's bones.' 
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)

"When shall it be that we shall taste the sweetness of the Divine Will in all that happens to us, considering in everything only His good pleasure, by whom it is certain that adversity is sent with as much love as prosperity, and as much for our good? When shall we cast ourselves undeservedly into the arms of our most loving Father in Heaven, leaving to Him the care of ourselves and of our affairs, and reserving only the desire of pleasing Him, and of serving Him well in all that we can? "
(St. Jane Frances de Chantal)

"My child, make the resolution never to rely on people. Entrust yourself completely to My will saying," Not as I want, but according to Your will, O God, let it be done unto me." These words, spoken from the depths of one's heart, can raise a soul to the summit of sanctity in a short time. In such a soul I delight. Such a soul gives Me glory. Such a soul fills heaven with the fragrance of her virtue. But understand that the strength by which you bear sufferings comes from frequent Communions. So approach this fountain of mercy often, to draw with the vessel of trust whatever you need. (from the Diary of Saint Faustina)

"We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us." (Saint Teresa of Avila)

"During our sojourn in this world, we should learn from the saints now in heaven, how to love God. The pure and perfect love of God they enjoy there, consists in uniting themselves perfectly to his will. It would be the greatest delight of the seraphs to pile up sand on the seashore or to pull weeds in a garden for all eternity, if they found out such was God’s will. Our Lord himself teaches us to ask to do the will of God on earth as the saints do it in heaven: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
(St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

'There could not be a surer sign of God's love for you than this pain which He has sent you. Adore the divine will.' (St. Paul of the Cross)

"There are times when He Himself allows terrible sufferings, and then again there are times when He does not let me suffer and removes everything that might afflict my soul. These are His ways , unfathomable and incomprehensible to us. It is for us to submit ourselves completely to His holy will. There are mysteries that the human mind will never fathom here on earth; eternity will reveal them."(Saint Faustina)

"God wills only our good; God loves us more than anybody else can or does love us. His will is that no one should lose his soul, that everyone should save and sanctify his soul: “Not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance.” “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” God has made the attainment of our happiness, his glory. Even chastisements come to us, not to crush us, but to make us mend our ways and save our souls." (St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

"Here the will of God is done, as God wills, and as long as God wills." (Saint Gerard Majella)

"If, devout soul, it is your will to please God and live a life of serenity in this world, unite yourself always and in all things to the divine will. Reflect that all the sins of your past wicked life happened because you wandered from the path of God’s will." (St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

"The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will." (Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton)

"I desire to suffer always and not to die. I should add: this is not my will, it is my inclination. It is sweet to think of Jesus; but it is sweeter to do His will." (Bl Mary of Jesus Crucified "The Little Arab")

"The goal of all our undertakings should be not so much a task perfectly completed as the accomplishment of the will of God." 
(St Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face)

"Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God: ‘Charity is the bond of perfection;’ and perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God’s." (St. Alphonsus de Ligouri)

"I will attempt day by day to break my will into pieces. I want to do God's Holy Will, not my own!" (Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother)

'I knew that I could not practice modesty without the virtue of mortification, so with God's grace, I bent all my forces on acquiring that, cost what it might.

In the first place, then, I strove to deprive myself of every pleasure in order to give pleasure to God. Without knowing how, I felt obliged to fulfill what was a mere proposal. My mind was faced with choosing between my pleasure and God's, and because my mind saw the glaring inequality between the two, even in the slightest matter, I would be forced to choose what then seemed more pleasing to God. I would joyfully abstain from the pleasure in question, to give pleasure to God. This is still the way it is with me in all things: eating, drinking, resting, talking, looking, hearing, going somewhere, etc.' (St. Anthony Mary Claret)

Mortal Sin Quotes from the Saints

Mortal Sin Quotes

'Although the sinner does not believe in Hell, he shall nevertheless go there if he has the misfortune to die in mortal sin.' (St. Anthony Mary Claret)

'We should all realize that no matter where or how a man dies, if he is in the state of mortal sin and does not repent, when he could have done so and did not, the Devil tears his soul from his body with such anguish and distress that only a person who has experienced it can appreciate it.'  (St. Francis of Assisi)

'And when children begin to use their reason, fathers and mothers should take great pains to fill their hearts with the fear of God. This the good Queen Blanche did most earnestly by St. Louis, her son: witness her oft-repeated words, "My son, I would sooner see you die than guilty of a mortal sin;" words which sank so deeply into the saintly monarch's heart, that he himself said there was no day on which they did not recur to his mind, and strengthen him in treading God's ways.' (St. Francis de Sales)

'Yes, dear reader, before your Baptism you were a member of Satan, and now you are a member of Jesus Christ; you were a child of the devil, and now you are the child of God; you were a base associate of Satan, and you have become the sacred spouse of the Holy Ghost; you were the inheritor of the pains of hell, and now you are the heir of heaven; you were separated from your God, and you are united to him in most intimate union. Behold what you are, if you have still preserved the grace of your Baptism. 
But, alas! if you have lost it through mortal sin, the holy union which you contracted with God is broken.' (St. Jean Eudes)

'The soul which is espoused by the priceless ring of good will, that is of divine love, and wishes to serve God in the spirit of truth, must first cleanse her conscience by a pure and complete confession and make a most firm resolution of not wanting ever again to sin mortally, and instead to die a thousand times if that were possible, because the person who is in mortal sin is not a member of Christ but of the devil, and is deprived of the goods of holy mother the Church and cannot do anything which will profit her for eternal life.And she does this also because to wish to serve this God faithfully requires a resolution not to sin mortally, as was said above. But note that, should you be in mortal sin, you should never despair of divine goodness nor cease to do whatever good you can do so that in this way you can get out of sin. And with this hope, always do what is right in whatever state you find yourself.' (St. Catherine of Bologna)

'It often happens that Satan will insidiously commune with you in your heart and say: "Think of the evil you have done; your soul is full of lawlessness, you are weighed down by many grievous sins." Do not let him deceive you when he does this and do not be led to despair on the pretext that you are being humble. After gaining admission through the fall evil has the power to commune at all times with the soul, as man to man, and so to suggest sinful actions to it. You should answer it: "I have God's written assurance, for He says: 'I desire, not the sinner's death, but that he should return through repentance and live'" (cf. Ezek. 33:11).

"What was the purpose of His descent to earth except to save sinners, to bring light to those in darkness and life to the dead?" (St. Symeon Metaphrastis)

'Keep this in mind, for it is very important advice, so do not neglect it until you find you have such a fixed determination not to offend the Lord that you would rather lose a thousand lives and be persecuted by the whole world, than commit one mortal sin, and until you are most careful not to commit venial sins.' (St. Teresa of Jesus)

'I repeat it; all works, without the help of grace are dead, being produced by the creature only; but grace aids all works performed by those who are not in mortal sin, and makes them worthy of heaven; not those which are ours solely, but those in which grace cooperates.' (St. Catherine of Genoa)

'Tell me: what would you fain have done were you to die now? Would you have lived in luxury, which usually leads to grievous sins, and be cast into hell, or would you rather have led a poor life, and wing your flight to heaven?' (St. Paul of the Cross)

'Moreover, know that just as all mortal sins are very serious, so too a venial sin is made mortal if a human being delights in it with the intention of persevering.' ( words from Our Lord Jesus Christ, at Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden)

'Venial sin becomes mortal sin when one approves it as an end." (St. Thomas Aquinas)

'They pierce his side when they have the intention of persevering in sin.I tell you truly, and you can tell this to my friends, that in the sight of my Son such people are more unjust than those who sentenced him, worse enemies than those who crucified him, more shameless than those who sold him. A greater punishment is due to them than to the others. . .

Pilate sentenced him due to fear, in accordance with the petition and intention of others. These people sentence him for their own advantage and without any fear, by dishonoring him through sin that they could abstain from, if they wanted. But they neither abstain from sin nor are they ashamed of their already committed sins, for they do not take into consideration their unworthiness of the kindness of the one whom they do not serve.' (words of Our Lady, at The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden)

'Venial sin becomes mortal sin because of one's contempt, as I have said before.' (St. Thomas Aquinas)

'Wherefore, know that two sins, which I now name to you, are being practiced and that they draw after them other sins that all seem as if venial. But because the people delight in them with the intention of persevering, they are therefore made mortal. . .

The first of the two sins is that the faces of rational human creatures are being painted with the various colors with which insensible images and statues of idols are colored so that to others, these faces may seem more beautiful than I made them. The second sin is that the bodies of men and women are being deformed from their natural state by the unseemly forms of clothing that the people are using.' (words of Our Lord Jesus Christ, at The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden)

'Saint John did not absolutely forbid that prayer should be made for those who "sin unto death," since he knew that Moses, Jeremiah, and Stephen had so prayed, and he himself implies that forgiveness is not to be denied them. Such intercessors, then, must be sought for after very grievous sins, for if any ordinary persons pray they are not heard. . . 

He was not speaking to Moses and Jeremiah, but to the people, who must seek another intercessor for their sins; the people, for whom it is sufficient they entreat God for their lighter faults, and consider that pardon for weightier sins must be reserved for the prayers of the just. . .

Stephen prayed for his persecutors, who had not been able even to listen to the Name of Christ, when he said of those very men by whom he was being stoned: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" And we see the result of this prayer in the case of the Apostle, for Paul, who kept the garments of those who were stoning Stephen, not long after became an apostle by the grace of God, having before been a persecutor.' (St. Ambrose of Milan)

'There is a sin which is always "unto death" (1 John 5:16): the sin for which we do not repent. For this sin even a saint's prayers will not be heard.'(St. Mark the Ascetic)

'Let us now proceed. We have spoken of the examination regarding mortal and venial sins. But were a person to do an action with a doubt whether it was a mortal or a venial sin, what kind of sin would he commit?

He would be guilty of mortal sin, because he exposes himself to the danger of grievously offending God. Hence, before he acts he must lay aside the doubt; and if he has not hitherto done so, he must confess it, at least, as it is before God. But the scrupulous, who have doubts about everything, must follow another rule: they must obey their confessor. When he tells them to conquer their doubts, and to act against scruples, they should obey with exactness; otherwise they will render themselves unable and unfit to perform any spiritual exercise.'
(St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori)

'Half-instructed confessors have done my soul great harm; for I could not always have such learned ones as I would have desired. They certainly did not wish to deceive me, but the fact was that they knew no better. Of something which was a venial sin, they said it was no sin, and out of a very grave mortal sin they made a venial sin. This has done me such harm, that my speaking here of so great an evil, as a warning to others, will be readily understood.' (St. Teresa of Jesus)

'But if you take pleasure in committing even a slight sin, which you know to be a sin, and you do so trusting to your own abstinence and presuming on grace, without doing penance and reparation for it, know that it can become a mortal sin.' (words of Our Lord Jesus Christ, at 'The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden)

'St. Augustine and St. Thomas define mortal sin to be a turning away from God: that is, the turning of one's back upon God, leaving the Creator for the sake of the creature.

What punishment would that subject deserve who, while his king was giving him a command, contemptuously turned his back upon him to go and transgress his orders? This is what the sinner does; and this is punished in hell with the pain of loss, that is, the loss of God, a punishment richly deserved by him who in this life turns his back upon his sovereign good.'  
(St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori)

'I cannot understand how anyone conscious of mortal sin can laugh or be merry.' (St. Thomas Aquinas)

'This I say, because God showed me somewhat of his truth, in order that I might know what man is without him; that is, when the soul is found in mortal sin, at that time, it is so monstrous and horrible to behold, that it is impossible to imagine anything equally so.' (St. Catherine of Genoa)

'I once heard a spiritual man say that he was not so much astonished at the things done by a soul in mortal sin as at the things not done by it. May God, in his mercy, deliver us from such great evil, for there is nothing in the whole of our lives that so thoroughly deserves to be called evil as this, since it brings endless and eternal evils in its train.'  (St. Teresa of Jesus)

'Without sanctifying grace it is not possible to refrain long from mortal sin.' (St. Thomas Aquinas)

Maxims to Live By

Maxims to Live By- Wisdom words from the Saints

'We can never attain to perfection while we have an affection for any imperfection.'  (St. Francis de Sales)

'Do not lay open your conscience to anyone whom you do not trust in your heart.' (St. Poemen)

'Regard yourself as more vile and miserable in the sight of God because of your faults than any sinner whatever, no matter what his sins. . . and consider closely that any grace or inclination to good or desire of virtue you may have, is not of yourself but of the sole mercy of Christ.' 
(St. Vincent Ferrer)

'Live in the joy and the peace of the divine Majesty. Live lost in divine love. Live for divine love and of divine love.' (St. Paul of the Cross)

'In all things let us not forget to repeat with the Lord Jesus: "Not my will but Thine be done." . . . Let us not forget that Jesus not only suffered, but also rose in glory; so, too, we go to the glory of the Resurrection by way of suffering and the Cross.' (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

'Before choosing, let us examine well whether the attachment we feel for an object springs solely from the love of God.' (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

'When a man is reproved for anything, he ought not to take it too much to heart, for we commit a greater fault by our sadness than by the sin for which we are reproved.' (St. Philip Neri)

'As soon as we know the will of God, we ought without delay to follow it.'  (St. Paul of the Cross)

'Conform yourself as closely as possible to His humility and gentleness in dealing with your neighbor. . . Love those who humble and contradict you, for they are more useful to your perfection than those who flatter you.' (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)

'Place before your eyes as models for imitation, not the weak and cowardly, but the fervent and courageous.' (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

'Make the body serve the commandments, keeping it so far as possible free from sickness and sensual pleasure.' (St. Thalassios the Libyan)

'Let thy first rule be to flee the conversation of every human being, in so far as it is simply conversation, except as deeds of charity may demand; but to love people very much, and talk with few of them. And know how to talk in moderation even with those whom thou lovest with spiritual love. . .' (St. Catherine of Siena)

'Go in search of occasions to serve your accusers. You should seek these occasions more assiduously than people seek pearls and diamonds.' 
(St. Paul of the Cross)

'Perfection consists in renouncing ourselves, in carrying our cross, and in following Jesus Christ. Now, he who renounces himself most perfectly carries his cross the best and follows nearest to Jesus Christ is he who never does his own will, but always that of God.' (St. Vincent de Paul)

'"But I say to you, do not resist evil; but if someone hits you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek as well. And if anyone sues you in the courts, and takes away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And if anyone forces you to go a mile, go with him for two miles" (Matt. 5:39-41). Why did He say this? Both to keep you free from anger and irritation, and to correct the other person by means of your forbearance, so that like a good Father He might bring the two of you under the yoke of love.'  (St. Maximos the Confessor)

'Shun useless conversation. We lose by it both time and the spirit of devotion.' - (St. Thomas Aquinas)

'Be very quick to turn away from whatever leads or allurs to lewd conduct, for this evil works without our knowing it and from small beginnings moves on to great difficulties. Such things are always easier to avoid than to cure.' (St. Francis de Sales)

'The forceful practice of self-control and love, patience and stillness, will destroy the passions hidden within us.' (St. Thalassios the Libyan)

'The best preparation for the divine banquet is to keep ourselves well purified, and to watch over our tongue, which is the first member that touches the sacred Host.' (St. Paul of the Cross)

'When you are insulted by someone or humiliated, guard against angry thoughts, lest they arouse a feeling of irritation, and so cut you off from love and place you in the realm of hatred.' (St. Maximos the Confessor)

'Run from places of sin as from the plague.'  (St. John Climacus)

'Do not permit yourself to be a spectacle for the gossip of others; do not allow your honor to be degraded. Do not associate with vain people. Avoid the bad; rebuff the indolent. Flee overmuch association with men, especially those who are more inclined to vice.' (St. Isidore of Seville)

'If you wish to advance in the love of God, speak of it; for pious conversations are to charity what the wind is to the flame.'
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)

'Do not pass one day without devoting a half hour, or at least a quarter of an hour, to meditation on the sorrowful Passion of your Saviour. Have a continual remembrance of the agonies of your crucified Love, and know that the greatest saints, who now, in heaven, triumph in holy love, arrived at perfection in this way.' (St. Paul of the Cross)

'Maintain a regular level of ascetic practice and do not break your rule unless forced to do so.' (St. Thalassios the Libyan)

'Then I read the Gospel, and saw there that a great means of reaching perfection was the selling of one's goods, the sharing of them with the poor, the giving up of all care for this life, and the refusal to allow the soul to be turned by any sympathy towards things of earth.'  
(St. Basil the Great)

'You should not pay so much attention to or dwell on certain gifts, but rather go to the Divine Source whence they proceed.' 
(St. Paul of the Cross)

'Those visions, elevations, and lights are seldom genuine. Hence, says a great saint, "it is always best to reject them, to distrust them, particularly in the case of women, whose imagination is most vivid." In acting thus, we act well, because, if they come from God, they will not fail to produce their effect, even though we ignore them; and if they come from the devil, which is more probable, we guard ourselves, in rejecting them, against illusion.' (St. Paul of the Cross)

'Blessed the one who seated in his cell, like a noble warrior, guards the treasure of the kingdom, that is his body with his soul, blameless in the Lord.' (St. Ephrem of Syria)

'Ask Jesus to make you a saint. After all, only He can do that. Go to confession regularly and to Communion as often as you can.' 
(St. Dominic Savio)

'Go and set the whole world on fire with the fire of Divine love.' 
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)

'I despair. I despair. . . I despair of myself, but I trust in God, hence, during this life which we are exposed to so many dangers of losing God, it is necessary for us to live always in great distrust in ourselves, and full of confidence in God.' (St. Philip Neri)

'We must never lose sight of the fact that we are either saints or outcasts, that we must love for Heaven or for Hell; there is no middle path in this.' (St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars)

"Keep this in mind, for it is very important advice, so do not neglect it until you find you have such a fixed determination not to offend the Lord that you would rather lose a thousand lives and be persecuted by the whole world, than commit one mortal sin, and until you are most careful not to commit venial sins." (St. Teresa of Jesus)

'Take it for a principle to concede readily in the beginning of a conversation with those whose aspirations are only earthly; but reserve yourself for the end and try to cover with a layer of gold the metal of their conversation, whatsoever it may be.' (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

'Let every one stay at home, that is, within himself, and sit in judgment on his own actions, without going abroad to investigate and criticise those of others.' (St. Philip Neri)

'The moment has come when you should more than ever die to all that is not God, that you may the more lovingly commune with Him alone. Let your life be as hidden as possible. Lock yourself up in the great sanctuary of the divine Heart, for there the soul is nourished by her divine Spouse with that wine which strengthens, vivifies, inflames the soul, and causes her to take flight to the contemplation of the supreme Monarch; it is in that sanctuary that the soul learns the science of the saints, which is taught only to the humble.' (St. Paul of the Cross)

'It costs little to tell God we love Him when He is showering favors upon us; it is in the midst of the tempest that we must cry out to Him like Job: "Although He should kill me, I will trust Him."' (St. Peter Julian Eymard)

'Those who intend to fulfill the Christian way of life to the best of their ability must first devote all their attention to the rational, discriminative and directing aspect of the soul. Perfecting in this way their discrimination between good and evil, and defending the purity of their nature against the attacks of the passions that are contrary to nature, they go forward without stumbling, guided by the eye of discrimination and not embroiled with the impulses of evil. For the soul's will is able to preserve the body free from the vitiation of the senses, to keep the soul away from worldly distraction, and to guard the heart from scattering its thoughts into the world, completely walling them in and holding them back from base concerns and pleasures. Whenever the Lord sees someone acting in this manner, perfecting and guarding himself, disposed to serve Him with fear and trembling, He extends to him the assistance of His grace. But what will God do for the person who willingly gives himself up to the world and pursues its pleasures?' (St. Symeon Metaphrastis)