Sometimes, when I'm in such a state of spiritual dryness that I can't find a single thought in my mind that will bring me close to God, I say an Our Father and a Hail Mary very slowly indeed. How they take me out of myself then!

-- St. Therese of Lisieux

No one should feel secure in this life, because the whole of it is one long test; and no one who is able to pass from a worse state to a better one can be certain that he will not later pass from a better state to a worse. Our only hope, our only confidence, our only assured promise, Lord, is Your mercy.

-- St. Augustine

-- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

You should never praise anyone until you see how he turns out in the end!

-- St. Francis of Assisi

The purest suffering bears and carries in its train the purest understanding.

-- St. John of the Cross

Read some chapter of a devout book. It is very easy and most necessary, for just as you speak to God when at prayer, God speaks to you when you read.

-- St. Vincent de Paul

Christ does not force our will, He only takes what we give Him. But He does not give Himself entirely until He sees that we yield ourselves entirely to Him.

-- St. Teresa of Avila

In order to avoid discord, never contradict anyone except in case of sin or some danger to a neighbor; and when necessary to contradict others, do it with tact and not with temper.

-- St. Louis IX

The saints were so completely dead to themselves they cared very little whether others agreed with then or not!

-- St. John Vianney

What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He Caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart.

-- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

We must also be especially resigned in mortal sickness. To accept death at such a time, in order that the Will of God may be fulfilled, merits for us a reward similar to that of the martyrs, because they accepted death to please God.

-- St. Alphonsus Liguori

Give me the grace to amend my life, and to have an eye to mine end, without the grudge of death, which to them that die in thee, good Lord, is the gate of a truly wealthy life.

-- St Thomas More

-- St Margaret of Cortona

We ought not, as soon as we leave church, to plunge into business unsuited to church, but as soon as we get home, we should take the Scriptures into our hands, and call our wife and children to join us in putting together what we have heard in church.

-- St John Chrysostom

Everything seems to me to pass so quickly that we must concentrate on how to die rather than on how to live. How sweet it is to die if one has lived on the Cross with Christ.

-- St. Teresa of Avila

Until we have acquired genuine prayer, we are like people teaching children to begin to walk.

-- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

A Christian is not his own master, since all his time belongs to God.

-- St. Ignatius of Antioch

The air which we breathe, the bread which we eat, the heart which throbs in our bosoms, are not more necessary for man that he may live as a human being, than is prayer for the Christian that he may live as a Christian.

-- St. John Eudes

The soul cannot live without love. Its eternity depends on  providing it with a worthy object.

-- St. Francis de Sales

Remember that Jesus Christ, referring to the humility of the publican, said that his prayer was heard. If this was said of a man whose life was evil, what may we not hope for if we are really humble?

-- St. Vincent de Paul

When you have pity on the poor, you lend to God; and whoever gives to the least, gives to God a sweet smelling spiritual sacrifice to Him.

-- St. Cyprian of Carthage

There are three distinct comings of the Lord of which I know: His coming to men, His coming into men, and His coming against men.

-- St. Bernard of Clairvaux

No man [truly] making a profession of faith sinneth; nor does he that possesses love hate any one. The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognized by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.

-- St. Ignatius

The mysterious route of faith and love that led Peter and Paul from their native land to Jerusalem, then to other parts of the world, and finally to Rome, is a model of the journey that every Christian is called to accomplish to witness to Christ in the world.

-- Pope John Paul II

The man who has come to know himself with the full awareness of his soul has sown in good ground. However, anyone who has not sown in this way cannot expect humility to flower within him. And anyone who has acquired knowledge of self has come to understand the fear [total respect and awe] of the Lord, and walking with the help of this fear, he has arrived at the doorway of love. For humility is the door to the kingdom, opening up to those who come near.

-- St. John Cliamcus

No idle word should be uttered. I understand a word to be idle when it serves no good purpose, either for myself or for another, and was not intended to do so.

-- St. Ignatius of Loyola

The highest degree of meekness consists in seeing, serving, honoring, and treating amiably, on occasion, those who are not to our taste, and who show themselves unfriendly, ungrateful, and troublesome to us.

-- St. Francis de Sales

I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe

-- St. Augustine

Whoever will proudly dispute and contradict will always stand outside the door. Christ, the master of humility, manifests His truth only to the humble and hides himself from the proud and the obstinate.

-- St. Vincent Ferrer

But now, my poor son, the hurricane has come, and you feel you are being shaken by a force that could uproot century-old trees. But you must remain confident, for your Faith and your love cannot be uprooted, nor can you be blown from your way, if you remain in unity with the "Head"

-- St. Josemaria Escriva