Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => The Sacred: Catholic Liturgy, Chant, Prayers => Topic started by: shin on July 08, 2013, 06:53:45 PM
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Thought I'd ask folks what their favorite saints' quotes are?
I think many folks have a favorite quote or too, more than are familiar with the Desert Fathers.
I can't choose any few truly, there are uncountable quotes that are so memorable and keep coming to mind.
Thinking more of quotations on the spiritual life than doctrinal quotes used for apologetics.
If you're lacking quotes.. Many are online on various sites.. Thousands on Inspirational Quotes from the Saints @ http://saintsquotes.net
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'Be a vase, which thou fillest at the source and at the source dost drink from.
Although thou hadst drawn thy love from God, who is the Source of living water, didst thou not drink it continually in Him thy vase would remain empty.'
St. Catherine of Siena
'. . . and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?'
Micah 6:8
'We must imitate the forbearance of God. Oh, how great is God's forbearance! He endures patiently the temples of the profane men who outrage His majesty; He endures idols and sacrilegious ceremonies; He makes the sun to shine on the evil and upon the good, and His rain descend upon the just and upon the unjust; He makes the elements serve all men alike, the impious as well as the good; the winds blow, the springs burst forth, the harvests swell with waving corn, the grapes ripen, the trees cover themselves with fruit, the forests put on thick foliage, the meadows adorn themselves with the enamel of flowers. God delays vengeance, and patiently waits, that man may correct himself and return to his Savior. Such is the forbearance of the Eternal Father, and similar to it was that of the Son, for all the actions of Jesus Christ were characterized by patience and by that divine evenness of soul of which nothing could disturb the tranquility.'
St. Cyprian
'The peace of the celestial city is the perfectly ordered and harmonious enjoyment of God, and of one another in God. The peace of all things is the tranquility of order.'
St. Augustine
'Help me; the devil wishes to make me despair. Help me; I do not wish to offend God.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
'In all your affairs lean solely on God's Providence, by means of which alone your plans can succeed. Meanwhile, on your part work on in quiet co-operation with Him, and then rest satisfied that if you have trusted entirely to Him you will always obtain such a measure of success as is most profitable for you, whether it seems so or not to your own individual judgment.'
St. Francis de Sales
'To abstain from sinful actions is not sufficient for the fulfillment of God's law. The very desire of what is forbidden is evil.'
St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle
'We are not created for this earth. The end for which God has placed us in the world, is this, that by our good works we may merit eternal life. "The end is life everlasting."'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
'For all flesh is as grass; and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass is withered, and the flower thereof is fallen away. But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel hath been preached unto you.'
1 Peter 1:24-25
'See my children; the treasure of a Christian is not on the earth, it is in Heaven. Well, our thoughts ought to be where our treasure is.
Man has a beautiful occupation, that of praying and loving.
You pray, you love -- that is the happiness of man upon the earth.
'Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When our heart is pure and united to God, we feel within ourselves a joy, a sweetness that inebriates, a light that dazzles us. In this intimate union God and the soul are like two pieces of wax melted together; they cannot be separated. This union of God with His little creature is a most beautiful thing. It is a happiness that we cannot understand. . . God, in His goodness, has permitted us to speak to Him. Our prayer is an incense which He receives with extreme pleasure.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
'No single virtue by itself opens the door of our nature; but all the virtues must be linked together in the correct sequence.'
St. Mark the Ascetic
'When rain falls upon the earth, it gives life to the quality inherent in each plant: sweetness in the sweet, astringency in the astringent; similarly, when grace falls upon the hearts of the faithful, it gives to each the energies appropriate to the different virtues without itself changing.'
St. Mark the Ascetic
'Only spiritual conversation is beneficial; it is better to preserve stillness than to indulge in any other kind.'
St. Thalassios the Libyan
'Try to convince yourself that there is no crime-laden sinner but would have served God better than you. . . if he had received the same graces.'
St. Vincent Ferrer
'Learn to be silent sometimes for the edification of others, that you may learn how to speak sometimes.'
St. Vincent Ferrer
'If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.'
John 15:19
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I just read this one today, and it has to be my very favorite ever.
Brought me great comfort, thinking of the death of my husband 8 months ago.
St. Thomas, "Happiness is the end of life".
Obviously he was talking about people in the State of Grace.
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That's a truly inspiring one MyrnaM. I am glad to hear it, I had not before.
Deo gratias et Mariae semper Virgini.
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"Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it; right is right, even if no one is doing it." - St. Augustine
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Wouldn't it be something if everyone was doing right, and no one doing wrong..
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Not a quote, but when St Thomas More was brought to the block he asked his beard to be positioned so that it wasn't harmed, since his beard had not offended.
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"Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it; right is right, even if no one is doing it." - St. Augustine
When I was in Catholic school, many, many years ago, there was this one particular nun who would start her class every day with that quote above.
It got drummed into my head and honestly this is what was going through my mind when I realized that Vatican II was not the Church.
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Not a quote, but when St Thomas More was brought to the block he asked his beard to be positioned so that it wasn't harmed, since his beard had not offended.
Ho ho, that's a good one. It sounds like something an Eastern saint would say. They like their beards out there.
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Not a quote, but when St Thomas More was brought to the block he asked his beard to be positioned so that it wasn't harmed, since his beard had not offended.
Ho ho, that's a good one. It sounds like something an Eastern saint would say. They like their beards out there.
It is, isn't it?
After I wrote my reply, I decided to actually do a little research to find the origin of that tradition. Interestingly enough, it comes from David Hume's History of England!
The executioner asking him forgiveness, he granted the request, but told him, “You will never get credit by beheading me, my neck is so short.” Then laying his head on the block, he bade the executioner stay till he put aside his beard: “For,” said he, “it never committed treason.”
http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=790&chapter=67313&layout=html&Itemid=27
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I die the King's Good Servant, but God's first. --Saint Thomas More
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St. Thomas seems pretty popular. :)
'Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.'
St. Thomas More
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"By these present and by virtue of Our Apostolic Authority, We give and grant in perpetuity that for the singing or reading of Mass in any church whatsoever this Missal may be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment or censure, and may be freely and lawfully used ....We likewise order and declare that no one whosoever shall be forced or coerced into altering this Missal; and that this present Constitution can never be revoked or modified, but shall forever remain valid and have the force of law" —Pope St. Pius V, July 14, 1570, Papal Bull, Quo Primum (http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius05/p5quopri.htm).
"Hearing nuns’ confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn." —Ven. Fulton Sheen
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'A seed will not grow without earth and water; and a man will not develop without voluntary suffering and divine help.'
St. Mark the Ascetic
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"To separate oneself from Tradition is to separate oneself from the Church." Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
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" All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics". Pope Saint Pius V
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" All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics". Pope Saint Pius V
:applause:
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'The reason why the lukewarm run so great a risk of being lost is because tepidity conceals from the soul the immense evil which it causes.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
'When you said, It is enough, then you perished.'
St. Augustine
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"Those who pray are saved. Those who do no are lost."
Alphonsus Ligouri
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There's a lot of depth to that simple statement.. It's something to think and think on. And yet it is simple.
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'. . . I put a cap on my head with all my sins written upon it, and rode backwards on an ass so as to overcome this miserable world. As I rode thus through the streets of Perugia, the children came in crowds and threw mud at me. In this condition of reproach I went to the Friars and put on the habit. Blessed be that day!'
St. John of Capistrano
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Those who do not believe in Hell are those most in danger of going there.
St Alphonsus Ligouri
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The Word of God is my food. It is not of myself that I promise such a force. It is you, O Jesus, who put those words in my mouth and give me the grace to accomplish.
— Saint Prosper d’Aquitaine
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'As the body without the soul cannot love, so the soul without prayer is dead and emits an offensive odor.'
St. John Chrysostom
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Everything should be done for love, nothing by force.
St Francis de Sales.
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What if your jam jar is stuck? Should you use force or love?
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:smirk:
"It is greatly to be wished that your soul was as beautiful as your dog." ~St. John Vianney to a man who brought his hunting hound to Ars.
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What if your jam jar is stuck? Should you use force or love?
Ask St Francis de Sales.
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Abbot Pastor, "If someone does evil to you, you should do good to him, so that by your good work you may drive out his malice."
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Everything should be done for love, nothing by force.
St Francis de Sales.
Where in his works his this from poche?
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:smirk:
"It is greatly to be wished that your soul was as beautiful as your dog." ~St. John Vianney to a man who brought his hunting hound to Ars.
Today, St. John Vianney, waiting for service at a new car dealer,
and seeing another customer there complaining about his new
car for the tiny imperfections he sees in its paint job, would say:
"It is greatly to be wished that your soul would be as beautiful
as your car."
Or, alternatively, "Would that our concerns for perfection in every
detail could be properly directed at the purity and spotlessness
of our souls instead of merely at our method of transportation."
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From St. Augustine
Where there is love, there is no labour
Christ is not valued at all, unless He is valued above all
If you think you have no fault, that is probably the worst one
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The most beautiful quote I wish to someday hear
THIS DAY THOU SHALT WITH ME IN PARADISE BE
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"These continual reflections upon ourselves and our actions are of no use except to consume time, which would be better employed in doing, than in scrutinizing so carefully what has been done. For this constant watching as to whether we are doing well, often causes things to be done badly. Those souls which make reflections about trifles act like silkworms, which impede and imprison themselves in their own work."
St. Francis de Sales
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The most beautiful quote I wish to someday hear
THIS DAY THOU SHALT WITH ME IN PARADISE BE
Heaven help us! :)
"These continual reflections upon ourselves and our actions are of no use except to consume time, which would be better employed in doing, than in scrutinizing so carefully what has been done. For this constant watching as to whether we are doing well, often causes things to be done badly. Those souls which make reflections about trifles act like silkworms, which impede and imprison themselves in their own work."
St. Francis de Sales
Help for OCD? :)
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'Do you desire to study to your advantage? Let devotion accompany all your studies and study less to make yourself learned than to become a saint.'
St. Vincent Ferrer
'When you behold a beautiful landscape, say: Heaven is more beautiful than that! Above there are true delights and holy pleasures! Let us live, then, absorbed in the thought and the desire of that immense ocean of felicity which we are to enjoy in heaven.'
St. Paul of the Cross
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'We are preparing ourselves for the time, which will come very soon, when we shall find ourselves at the end of our journey and shall be drinking of living water from the fountain I have described. Unless we make a total surrender of our will to the Lord, and put ourselves in His hands so that He may do in all things what is best for us in accordance with His will, He will never allow us to drink of it.'
St. Teresa of Jesus
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“It’s for you, Jesus. If you want it, I want it, too.”
Blessed Chiara Badano
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Being asked one day why he, being so well educated, sought the instruction and advice of a certain monk who was an utter stranger to all literature, Arsenius replied, "I am not unacquainted with the learning of the Greeks and the Romans; but I have not yet learned the alphabet of the science of the saints, whereof this seemingly ignorant Egyptian is master".
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Tertullian recounts an event where a Roman soldier refused to wear the laurel crown, which would have implicitly recognized the divinity of the Roman emperor. When questioned why he refused, he answered that he could not because he was a Christian. Non facio. Christianus sum! I cannot. I am a Christian.
http://catholic.org/hf/faith/story.php?id=51760
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" All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics". Pope Saint Pius V
All the strength of Satan's reign is due to the easygoing weakness of Catholics.
Pope St. Pius X.
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'Here is the difference between the joys of the world and the cross of Jesus Christ: after having tasted the first, one is disgusted with them; and on the contrary, the more one partakes of the cross, the greater the thirst for it.'
St. Ignatius of Loyola
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St. Augustine: “If you wish to be a Catholic, do not venture to believe, to say, or to teach that they whom the Lord has predestinated for baptism can be snatched away from his predestination, or die before that has been accomplished in them which the Almighty has predestined.’
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"Men will surrender to the spirit of the age. They will say that if they had lived in our day, faith was simple and easy. But in their day, things they say, will be complex, and the Church must be brought up to date and made meaningful to the day's problems. When the world and the Church will be one, then those days are at hand. For Our Divine Master placed a barrier between His things and the things of the world."
St. Anthony of the Desert: on the times of Antichrist. St. Anthony died in the year 356.
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He cannot have God for his Father who does not have Holy Mother for his Church.
St. Cyprian
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Not a quote, but when St Thomas More was brought to the block he asked his beard to be positioned so that it wasn't harmed, since his beard had not offended.
I've never seen a picture of him with a beard!
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Here's something we can all do:
"When faced by our limitations, we must have recourse to the practice of offering to God the good works of others."
- St Therese of Lisieux