May 26th
St Philip Neri (1515-1595), Confessor; Firenze, Italy; Feast day May 26th

"God has no need of man."

"Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is actually necessary, because there is no better means of obtaining God's graces than through His most holy Mother."

"We must accept the adversities which God sends us without reasoning too much upon them, and we must take for granted that it is the best thing which could happen to us."

"We must always remember that God does everything well, although we may not see the reason of what He does."

"There is nothing more to the purpose for exciting a spirit of prayer, than the reading of spiritual books."

"There is nothing good in this world:  Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas."

"A man without prayer is an animal without the use of reason."

"A most excellent means of learning how to pray, is to acknowledge ourselves unworthy of such a benefit, and to put ourselves entirely into the hands of the Lord."

"The true preparation for prayer consists in the exercise of mortification; for he who wishes to give himself up to prayer without mortification, is like a bird wishing to fly before it is fledged."

"In the warfare of the flesh, only cowards gain the victory; that is to say, those who fly."

"When a person puts himself in an occasion of sin, saying, "I shall not fall, I shall not commit sin," it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall, and with all the greater damage to his soul."

"It is a most useful thing to say often, and from the heart, 'Lord, do not put any confidence in me, for I am sure to fall if Thou dost not help me;' or, 'O my Lord, look for nothing but evil from me.'"

"The stench of impurity before God and the angels is so great, that no stench in the world can equal."

"One of the very best means of obtaining humility, is sincere and frequent confession."

"In trying to get rid of bad habits, it is of the greatest importance not to put off going to confession after a fall, and also to keep to the same confessor."

"In visiting the dying we should not say many words to them, but rather help them by praying for them."

"If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a crucifix, and think that Christ has shed all His blood for him, and not only forgave His enemies, but prayed the Eternal Father to forgive them also."

"Men are generally the carpenters of their own crosses."

"Let us concentrate ourselves so completely in the divine love, and enter so far into the living fountain of wisdom, through the wounded side of our Incarnate God, that we may deny ourselves and our self-love, and so be unable to find our way out of that Wound again."

"He who wishes to attain to perfection  must have no attachment to anything."

"The Holy Spirit is the master of prayer, and causes us to abide in continual peace and cheerfulness, which is a foretaste of Paradise."

"If we wish the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray, we must practice humility and obedience."

"He who runs away from one cross, will meet a bigger one on his road."


The Maxims and Sayings of St Philip Neri