February 14th
Padre Pio (1887-1968); Confessor; Pietrelcina, Italy; Feast day September 23rd

"Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God's heart.  You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips, but with your heart.  In fact on certain occasions you should only speak to Him with your heart."

Bl Columba Marmion (1858-1923); Abbot, Confessor; Dublin, Ireland; Feast day October 3rd

"We are infinitely rich in Jesus Christ and God's mercies are to our  miseries what the ocean is to a drop of water.  We never glorify God more than when despite the sight of our sins and unworthiness we are so filled with confidence in His mercy and in the infinite merits of Jesus Christ that we throw ourselves on His bosom full of confidence and love, sure that He cannot repel us:  'A humble and contrite heart, Oh God, Thou wilt not despise.'"

February 13th
St Gregory the Great (540-604), Pope, Doctor of the Church; Feast day March 12th

"We never more eloquently praise the works of the Almighty than when our tongue is mute in rapt wonder; silence is the only adequate praise when words are powerless to express the perfections we would extol."

St Augustine (354-430), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Thagaste, Algeria; Feast August 28th

"When I seek my God I seek not corporal grace, nor transient beauty, nor splendor, nor melodious sound, nor sweet fragrance of flowers, nor odorous essence, nor honeyed manna, nor grace of form, nor anything pleasing to the flesh. None of these things do I seek when I seek my God. But I seek a light exceeding all light, which the eyes cannot see; a voice sweeter than all sound, which the ear cannot hear; a sweetness above all sweetness, which the tongue cannot taste; a fragrance above all fragrance, which the senses cannot perceive; a mysterious and divine embrace, which the body cannot feel. For this light shines without radiance, this voice is heard without striking the air, this fragrance is perceived though the wind does not bear it, this taste inebriates with no palate to relish it, and this embrace is felt in the center of the soul."

February 12th
St Meletius of Antioch (d.381); Confessor, Bishop of Antioch; Armenia

"Everyone who rejects the dogmas of the Council of Nicaea stands far from the truth."

St Augustine (354-430), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Thagaste, Algeria; Feast August 28th

"He is a profoundly hidden God, yet everywhere present; He is essentially strength and beauty; He is immutable and incomprehensible; He is beyond all space, yet fills all the universe; invisible, yet manifest to all creatures; producing all motion, yet is Himself immovable; always in action, yet ever at rest; He fills all things and is circumscribed by nothing; He provides for all things without the least solicitude; He is great without quantity, therefore He is immense; He is good without qualification, and therefore He is the Supreme Good."

February 11th
Ss Saturninus, Dativus, and Others (d. 304), Martyrs of Africa

"The obligation of the Sunday is indispensable.  It is not lawful for us to omit the duty of that day.  We celebrated it as well as we could.  We never passed a Sunday without meeting at our assembly.  We will keep the commandments of God at the expense of our lives."

St Thomas Aquainas (1225-1274), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Roccasecca, Italy; Feast March 7th

"Were any man created with a heart as large and capacious as the hearts of all men together, and if he were enabled by an extraordinary light to apprehend one of the divine attributes, his joy and delight would be such that, unless supported by special assistance from God, he could not endure them."

February 10th
St Scholastica (d. 543), Virgin; Norcia, Italy

“I asked you a favour, and you refused it me: I asked it of Almighty God, and he has granted it me.” 

St Francis de Sales (1557-1622), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Haute Savoie, France; Feast January 29th

"Let us persevere in prayer at all times.  For if our Lord seems not to hear us, it is not because He wants to refuse us.  Rather, His purpose is to compel us to cry out louder and to make us more conscious of the greatness of His mercy."

February 9th
Bl Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824), Virgin; Westphalia, Germany

"Mass badly celebrated is an enormous evil.  Ah! it is not a matter of indifference how it is said!...I have had a great vision on the mystery of Holy Mass and I have seen that whatever good has existed since creation is owing to it."

St Bernard (1090-1153), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Fontaines, France; Feast day August 20th

"He who devotes himself overmuch to the delights of the world does not deserve those of the Holy Spirit."

February 8th
St Stephen of Grandmont (1044-1124), Abbot, Confessor; Auvergne, France

“I, Stephen, renounce the devil and his pomps, and do offer and dedicate myself to the Father, Son, and Holy Gost, one God in three Persons.” 

St Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510), Widow

"If a man were to see the seriousness of a single sin, he would rather be in a fiery furnace, and remain there alive in body and soul, than endure it within him; and if the sea were a vast fire, he would rather cast himself into the midst thereof, right to the bottom, to flee from this sin, nor would he ever go out thence if he knew that on leaving he would have the sin within him."