May 9th
St Gregory the Theologian (329-389), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Cappadocia; Feast day May 9 (Nazianzus)
"I have given all I have to Him from whom I received it, and have taken Him alone for my whole possession. I have consecrated to Him my goods, my glory, my health, my tongue and talents. all the fruit I have received from these advantages has been the happiness of despising them for Christ's sake."
"Let us never esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment, but let us live elsewhere, and raise all our attention to heaven, esteeming sin as the only true evil, and nothing truly good but virtue, which unites us to God."
"Let us offer ourselves entire to God that in Him we may find ourselves again entire. It is truly great riches to be destitute of earthly goods for His sake who was pleased to suffer poverty for the love of us."
"Admire the excess of God's goodness. He vouchsafes to accept our desires as if they were a thing of great value. He burns with an ardent desire that we vehemently desire and love Him; and He receives the petition we put up for His benefits as if this were a benefit to Himself, and a favor we did Him: He gives with greater joy than it can be to us to receive what He gives. Let us only be careful not to be too indifferent in our requests, or to set too narrow bounds to our desires and pretensions; and let us never ask frivolous things which it would be unworthy of His magnificence to petition Him for. There is nothing so great before God which the least among men is not able to offer Him, as well as the greatest prince or most profound scholar: give but yourself to Him with the most pure and perfect love."
Bl Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger (1797-1879), Virgin, Foundress; Bavaria; Feast day May 9th
"Let us never forget the love of Jesus for children, whom He took upon His lap and blessed."
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
May 8th
Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), Confessor; Kempen, Germany
"There is no creature so small and abject, that it represents not the goodness of God."
"Whoever would fully and feelingly understand the words of Christ, must endeavor to conform his life wholly to the life of Christ."
"You should stand for a time next to the Virgin Mother and learn from her, whose bitter tears are capable of penetrating the depths of your heart, what it is to lament...Next to the Cross, she maintains her constancy, exhibits her patience, manifests her loyalty, proves her love -- fearless of those who threaten her with death and ignoring those who shower her with curses. She endures all this with equal calm and by remaining silent before her abusive enemies, she imitates her humble Son.
"No discourteous words fall from her hips, nor does she show any indignation in her gestures. She only utters deep sighs, weeps profoundly, and intimately shares in her Son's pain...She expresses no anger against those crucifying her Son, but prays for them, evil though they be...and by this example of her loving patience, she is a model to all who are troubled by trials and tribulation."
"If you seek rest in this life, how will you then attain to the everlasting rest? Dispose not yourself for much rest, but for great patience. Seek true peace -- not in earth, but in heaven; not in men, nor in any other creature, but in God alone."
"When the time of tribulation comes upon you, be meek as well as courageous. And when something you especially love is taken from you, or when something you deem necessary is denied you, neither be disturbed nor yield to despair. For Jesus' dearest friends are often tried by such severe struggles. If God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up to such unspeakable suffering for our benefit, why are you hankering for the joys of this world?"
Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), Confessor; Kempen, Germany
"There is no creature so small and abject, that it represents not the goodness of God."
"Whoever would fully and feelingly understand the words of Christ, must endeavor to conform his life wholly to the life of Christ."
"You should stand for a time next to the Virgin Mother and learn from her, whose bitter tears are capable of penetrating the depths of your heart, what it is to lament...Next to the Cross, she maintains her constancy, exhibits her patience, manifests her loyalty, proves her love -- fearless of those who threaten her with death and ignoring those who shower her with curses. She endures all this with equal calm and by remaining silent before her abusive enemies, she imitates her humble Son.
"No discourteous words fall from her hips, nor does she show any indignation in her gestures. She only utters deep sighs, weeps profoundly, and intimately shares in her Son's pain...She expresses no anger against those crucifying her Son, but prays for them, evil though they be...and by this example of her loving patience, she is a model to all who are troubled by trials and tribulation."
"If you seek rest in this life, how will you then attain to the everlasting rest? Dispose not yourself for much rest, but for great patience. Seek true peace -- not in earth, but in heaven; not in men, nor in any other creature, but in God alone."
"When the time of tribulation comes upon you, be meek as well as courageous. And when something you especially love is taken from you, or when something you deem necessary is denied you, neither be disturbed nor yield to despair. For Jesus' dearest friends are often tried by such severe struggles. If God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up to such unspeakable suffering for our benefit, why are you hankering for the joys of this world?"
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
May 7th
St Anselm (1033-1109), Confessor, Bishop; Aosta, Burgundy; Feast day April 21st
"Many things were revealed to the Apostles by Mary."
Ven. Louis of Granada (1505-1588), Confessor; Granada, Spain
"How can you gain Heaven by the path of gross and sensual pleasures?..Consider how often the Sacred Host has rested upon your tongue, and do not permit death to enter by that gate through which life is conveyed to your soul....What incomprehensible folly to flatter with such delicate care a body which is destined to be the food of worms! For this miserable body you neglect your soul, which will appear before the tribunal of God as poor in virtues as its earthly companion is rich in sensual pleasures."
St Anselm (1033-1109), Confessor, Bishop; Aosta, Burgundy; Feast day April 21st
"Many things were revealed to the Apostles by Mary."
Ven. Louis of Granada (1505-1588), Confessor; Granada, Spain
"How can you gain Heaven by the path of gross and sensual pleasures?..Consider how often the Sacred Host has rested upon your tongue, and do not permit death to enter by that gate through which life is conveyed to your soul....What incomprehensible folly to flatter with such delicate care a body which is destined to be the food of worms! For this miserable body you neglect your soul, which will appear before the tribunal of God as poor in virtues as its earthly companion is rich in sensual pleasures."
Monday, May 6, 2013
May 6th
St John Damascen (676-749), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Damascus, Syria; Feast day May 6th
"Conscious to myself of my own baseness and unworthiness, I ought rather to condemn myself to an eternal silence, weeping, and confessing my sins before God. But seeing the Church, which is founded on a rock, assailed by a furious storm, I think I ought no longer to remain silent, because I fear God more than an emperor of the earth."
"Without assiduous prayer, reasoning is a great dissipation of the mind, and learning often extinguishes the humble interior spirit of prayer, as wind does a candle."
"Suffer not yourself to be bewitched with the enchantment of geometry. Nothing will sooner dry up in you the interior spirit of recollection and devotion."
Bl Edmund Rice (1762-1844), Founder, Confessor; Callan, Co. Kilkenney, Ireland; Feast day May 6th
"But let us do ever so little for God, we will be sure He will never forget it, nor let it pass unrewarded."
"Were we to know the merit and value of only going from one street to another to serve a neighbor for the love of God, we should prize it more than silver and gold."
"One thing you may be sure of, that whilst you work for God, whether you succeed or not, he will amply reward you."
"The will of God be done in this and every thing we undertake."
"Have courage; the good seed will grow up in the children's hearts later on."
"O God, did we even now rightly begin to serve you, your loving heart would take us all to its final embrace."
"Be intent on prayer and whatever may happen will turn to our good."
"Cast all your cares into the arms of divine Providence."
"Give to the poor in handfuls."
"If you only acquire this virtue (humility), it will always guide you safely let your paths be ever so cross or difficult."
"Never allow vain notions of your own sense, abilities, or other natural or acquired qualifications to take root in your mind, but always beseech God to make known to you, your sins and imperfections."
St John Damascen (676-749), Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Damascus, Syria; Feast day May 6th
"Conscious to myself of my own baseness and unworthiness, I ought rather to condemn myself to an eternal silence, weeping, and confessing my sins before God. But seeing the Church, which is founded on a rock, assailed by a furious storm, I think I ought no longer to remain silent, because I fear God more than an emperor of the earth."
"Without assiduous prayer, reasoning is a great dissipation of the mind, and learning often extinguishes the humble interior spirit of prayer, as wind does a candle."
"Suffer not yourself to be bewitched with the enchantment of geometry. Nothing will sooner dry up in you the interior spirit of recollection and devotion."
Bl Edmund Rice (1762-1844), Founder, Confessor; Callan, Co. Kilkenney, Ireland; Feast day May 6th
"But let us do ever so little for God, we will be sure He will never forget it, nor let it pass unrewarded."
"Were we to know the merit and value of only going from one street to another to serve a neighbor for the love of God, we should prize it more than silver and gold."
"One thing you may be sure of, that whilst you work for God, whether you succeed or not, he will amply reward you."
"The will of God be done in this and every thing we undertake."
"Have courage; the good seed will grow up in the children's hearts later on."
"O God, did we even now rightly begin to serve you, your loving heart would take us all to its final embrace."
"Be intent on prayer and whatever may happen will turn to our good."
"Cast all your cares into the arms of divine Providence."
"Give to the poor in handfuls."
"If you only acquire this virtue (humility), it will always guide you safely let your paths be ever so cross or difficult."
"Never allow vain notions of your own sense, abilities, or other natural or acquired qualifications to take root in your mind, but always beseech God to make known to you, your sins and imperfections."
Sunday, May 5, 2013
May 5th
St Pius V (1504-1572), Pope, Confessor; Bosco Morengo, Piedmont, Italy; Feast day May 5th
"You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! See to it that the people are edified by your example, by the purity of your lives, by the moderation of your conduct, and the brilliance of your holiness! God does not ask of you mere ordinary virtue. he demands downright perfection!"
"He that reigns in the highest, to Whom has been given all power in Heaven and Earth, entrusted the government of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is not salvation, to one man alone on the Earth, namely to Peter, the chief of the Apostles, and to Peter's successor, the Roman pontiff, in fullness of power. This one man He set up as chief over all nations and kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, dispose, plant and build..."
"Do not evil so that good may come!"
"In union with the perfect confidence and hope that the Holy and Blessed Virgin placed in Thee, do I hope, O Lord."
"Dominic looked to that simple way of praying and beseeching God, accessible to all and wholly pious, which is called the Rosary, or Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the same most Blessed Virgin is venerated by the angelic greeting repeated one hundred and fifty times, that is, according to the number of the Davidic Psalter, and by the Lord's Prayer with each decade. Interposed with these prayers are certain meditations showing forth the entire life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, thus completing the method of prayer devised by the Fathers of the Holy Roman Church...Christ's faithful, inflamed by these prayers, began immediately to be changed into new men. The darkness of heresy began to be dispelled, and the light of the Catholic Faith to be revealed...Following the example of our predecessors, seeing that the Church militant, which God has placed in our hands, in these our times is tossed this way and that by so many heresies, and is grievously troubled and afflicted by so many wars, and by the depraved morals of men, we also raise our eyes, weeping but full of hope, unto that same mountain, whence every aid comes forth, and we encourage and admonish each member of Christ's faithful to do likewise in the Lord."
"O Lord, increase my sufferings and my patience!"
"It shall be unlawful henceforth and forever throughout the Christian world to sing or to read Masses according to any formula other than that of this Missal published by Us...which shall have the farce of law in perpetuity, We order and enjoin under pain of Our displeasure that nothing be added to Our newly published Missal, nothing omitted therefrom, and noting whatsoever altered therein."
St Pius V (1504-1572), Pope, Confessor; Bosco Morengo, Piedmont, Italy; Feast day May 5th
"You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! See to it that the people are edified by your example, by the purity of your lives, by the moderation of your conduct, and the brilliance of your holiness! God does not ask of you mere ordinary virtue. he demands downright perfection!"
"He that reigns in the highest, to Whom has been given all power in Heaven and Earth, entrusted the government of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is not salvation, to one man alone on the Earth, namely to Peter, the chief of the Apostles, and to Peter's successor, the Roman pontiff, in fullness of power. This one man He set up as chief over all nations and kingdoms, to pluck up, destroy, scatter, dispose, plant and build..."
"Do not evil so that good may come!"
"In union with the perfect confidence and hope that the Holy and Blessed Virgin placed in Thee, do I hope, O Lord."
"Dominic looked to that simple way of praying and beseeching God, accessible to all and wholly pious, which is called the Rosary, or Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the same most Blessed Virgin is venerated by the angelic greeting repeated one hundred and fifty times, that is, according to the number of the Davidic Psalter, and by the Lord's Prayer with each decade. Interposed with these prayers are certain meditations showing forth the entire life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, thus completing the method of prayer devised by the Fathers of the Holy Roman Church...Christ's faithful, inflamed by these prayers, began immediately to be changed into new men. The darkness of heresy began to be dispelled, and the light of the Catholic Faith to be revealed...Following the example of our predecessors, seeing that the Church militant, which God has placed in our hands, in these our times is tossed this way and that by so many heresies, and is grievously troubled and afflicted by so many wars, and by the depraved morals of men, we also raise our eyes, weeping but full of hope, unto that same mountain, whence every aid comes forth, and we encourage and admonish each member of Christ's faithful to do likewise in the Lord."
"O Lord, increase my sufferings and my patience!"
"It shall be unlawful henceforth and forever throughout the Christian world to sing or to read Masses according to any formula other than that of this Missal published by Us...which shall have the farce of law in perpetuity, We order and enjoin under pain of Our displeasure that nothing be added to Our newly published Missal, nothing omitted therefrom, and noting whatsoever altered therein."
Saturday, May 4, 2013
May 4th
Ven. Louis of Granada (1505-1588), Confessor; Granada, Spain
"Let us wean our hearts from worldly honors and possessions, and seek only spiritual riches, for such treasures are not diminished when enjoyed by numbers, but, on the contrary, are increased. It is otherwise with the goods of the earth, which must decrease in proportion to the numbers who share them. For this reason envy finds easy access to the soul which covets the riches of this life, where one necessarily loses what another gains.
"Do not be satisfied with feeling no grief at the prosperity of your neighbor, but endeavor to benefit him all you can, and the good you cannot give him ask God to grant him. Hate no man. Love your friends in God, and your enemies for God. He so loved you while you were still His enemy that He shed the last drop of His Blood to save you from the tyranny of your sins.
"Your neighbor my be wicked, but that is no reason for hating him. In such a case imitate the example of a wise physician, who loves his patient, but hates his disease. We must abhor sin, which is the work of man, but we must always love our neighbor, who is the work of God. Never say in you heart: 'What is my neighbor to me? I owe him nothing. We are bound by no ties of blood or interest. He has never done me a favor, but has probably injured me.'
"Reflect rather on the benefits which God unceasingly bestows upon you, and remember that all He asks in return is that you be charitable and generous, not to Him, for He has no need of you or your possessions, but to your neighbor, whom He has recommended to your love."
Ven. Louis of Granada (1505-1588), Confessor; Granada, Spain
"Let us wean our hearts from worldly honors and possessions, and seek only spiritual riches, for such treasures are not diminished when enjoyed by numbers, but, on the contrary, are increased. It is otherwise with the goods of the earth, which must decrease in proportion to the numbers who share them. For this reason envy finds easy access to the soul which covets the riches of this life, where one necessarily loses what another gains.
"Do not be satisfied with feeling no grief at the prosperity of your neighbor, but endeavor to benefit him all you can, and the good you cannot give him ask God to grant him. Hate no man. Love your friends in God, and your enemies for God. He so loved you while you were still His enemy that He shed the last drop of His Blood to save you from the tyranny of your sins.
"Your neighbor my be wicked, but that is no reason for hating him. In such a case imitate the example of a wise physician, who loves his patient, but hates his disease. We must abhor sin, which is the work of man, but we must always love our neighbor, who is the work of God. Never say in you heart: 'What is my neighbor to me? I owe him nothing. We are bound by no ties of blood or interest. He has never done me a favor, but has probably injured me.'
"Reflect rather on the benefits which God unceasingly bestows upon you, and remember that all He asks in return is that you be charitable and generous, not to Him, for He has no need of you or your possessions, but to your neighbor, whom He has recommended to your love."
Friday, May 3, 2013
May 3rd
Ven. Louis of Granada (1505-1588), Confessor; Granada, Spain
"Make it a point of honor to owe no man, and you will thus enjoy peaceful slumbers, a quiet conscience, a contented life, and a happy death. The means of acquiring these precious results is to control your desires and appetites and to govern your expenditure by your income, not by your caprices. Our debts proceed from our ill-regulated, uncontrolled desires more than from our necessities, and consequently moderation is more profitable than the largest revenues.
"Let us be convinced that the only real riches, the only real treasures, are those which the Apostle bids us seek when he tells us to fly covetousness and pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, and mildness, for godliness with contentment is great gain. Be contented with the position in which God has placed you. Man would always enjoy peace did he accept the portion which God gives him; but, seeking to gratify ambition or cupidity, which craves more than God has given him, he exposes himself to trouble and disquiet, for real happiness or success can never be known by one who strives against the will of God."
St Gregory the Great (540-604), Confessor, Pope, Doctor of the Church; Rome, Italy; Feast day March 12th
"It often happens that one who was tepid and indifferent before his fall becomes, through repentance, a strong and fervent soldier of Christ."
"We gain no merit from good works if we have not learned to endure injuries with patience."
Ven. Louis of Granada (1505-1588), Confessor; Granada, Spain
"Make it a point of honor to owe no man, and you will thus enjoy peaceful slumbers, a quiet conscience, a contented life, and a happy death. The means of acquiring these precious results is to control your desires and appetites and to govern your expenditure by your income, not by your caprices. Our debts proceed from our ill-regulated, uncontrolled desires more than from our necessities, and consequently moderation is more profitable than the largest revenues.
"Let us be convinced that the only real riches, the only real treasures, are those which the Apostle bids us seek when he tells us to fly covetousness and pursue justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, and mildness, for godliness with contentment is great gain. Be contented with the position in which God has placed you. Man would always enjoy peace did he accept the portion which God gives him; but, seeking to gratify ambition or cupidity, which craves more than God has given him, he exposes himself to trouble and disquiet, for real happiness or success can never be known by one who strives against the will of God."
St Gregory the Great (540-604), Confessor, Pope, Doctor of the Church; Rome, Italy; Feast day March 12th
"It often happens that one who was tepid and indifferent before his fall becomes, through repentance, a strong and fervent soldier of Christ."
"We gain no merit from good works if we have not learned to endure injuries with patience."
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