April 21st

St Anselm (1033-1109), Confessor, Bishop; Aosta, Burgundy; Feast day April 21st

"Redeemer, my good Jesus, do not despise the prayers of one who has sinned against You, but strengthen the efforts of a weakling that loves You.

"Shake my heart out of its indolence, Lord, and in the ardour of Your love bring me to the everlasting sight of Your glory where with the Father and the Holy Spirit, You live and reign, God, for ever.  Amen."

"Nor do I seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe that I may understand.  For this, too, I believe, that, unless I first believe, I shall not understand."

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

"The understanding can never be so filled that it will not desire to grasp more while there remains more to be learned; and the will can never love and relish so  much good that it will not desire to possess more, if more be possible.  Consequently these two powers will never know rest until thy have attained a universal object containing all good, which, once known and loved, leaves no other truth to be known, no other good to be desired.  Hence no created thing, were it the whole universe, can satisfy man's heart.  God alone, for whom he was created, can do this."

April 20th
Ven. Louis of Granada (1505-1588), Confessor; Granada, Spain


"Nor will these offenses remain unpunished, for God's justice, which protects His mercy, cannot permit your sinful abuse of it to remain unavenged.  This is not a new pretext; the world has long made use of it.  In ancient times it distinguished the false from the true prophets.  While the latter announced to the people, in God's name, the justice with which He would punish their iniquities, the former, speaking in their own name, promised them mercy which was but a false peace and security.  You say God's mercy is great; but if you presume upon it you show that you have never studied the greatness of His justice...

"But the strongest proof of the rigor of God's justice was the satisfaction required for sin, which was nothing less than the death of His only-begotten Son.  Think of the Price of man's Redemption, and you will begin to realize what sin is and how the justice of God regards it.  Think, too, of the eternity of Hell, and judge of the rigor of that justice which inflicts such punishment.  This justice terrifies you, but it is no less certain than the mercy in which you trust."

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

"Do you not see our Lady always beside the tabernacle?"

April 19th
St Elphage (AD 1012), Bishop, Martyr; Derherste, England; Feast day April 19th

"O good Shepherd!  O incomparable Shepherd! look with compassion on the children of thy church, which I, dying, recommend to thee."

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

"I was plunged in iniquity, and Thy anger was aroused against me, but I knew it not.  I was deaf to the noise which the chains of my sins made.  But this ignorance, this deafness, were the punishments of my pride."

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

"Suffering, no matter how difficult it may be, when compared to the good that is accomplished, makes every pain a joy for the soul."

April 18th
St Apollonius the Apologist (d. 185), Martyr; Rome, Italy; Feast day April 18th

"There is waiting for me something better: eternal life, given to the person who has lived well on earth."

Bl Marie-Anne Blondin (1809-1890), Virgin, Foundress; Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada; Feast day April 18th

"As for me, my Lord, I bless Divine Providence a thousand times for the maternal care she shows me in making me walk the way of tribulations and crosses."

"May Holy Eucharist and perfect abandonment to God's Will be your heaven on earth."

"There is more happiness in forgiving than in revenge."

Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), Confessor; Kempen, Germany

"Without any delay You forgave Mary Magdalen's many sins, as she wept copious tears at Your feet.  And Peter, after he had three times denied You and had cried bitterly, You again took into Your fellowship.  In Your mercy You restored to health those afflicted with various diseases and because of Your abundant love You freed those held captive by their serious sins.  This is clear in the case of the adulteress, whom You snatched from the clutches of her accusers and delivered from being stoned.

O lovable Jesus, my mercy and my refuge, who protect and deliver me from the wrath of my enemies, be merciful to me and let not my soul perish among the ungodly, for it was precisely in order to redeem my soul that You voluntarily suffered Your crucifixion.

April 17th
St Stephen Harding (d. 1134), Abbot, Confessor; Dorset, England; Feast day April 17th

"I assure you that I go to God in fear and trembling.  If my baseness should be found to have ever done any good, even in this I fear, lest I should not have preserved that grace with the humility and care I ought."


St Simeon (AD 341); Bishop, Martyr; Persia; Feast day April 17th

"I would not adore you, O king; and you far excel the sun, being endued with reason.  We Christians have no Lord but Christ, who was crucified."
"Hear me, O Jesus, though most undeserving and unworthy, grant that I may drink this cup on this day, and at the hour of Your passion.  May all know that Simeon was obedient to his Lord and was sacrificed with Him."

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

"Men go to Hell through hope, as well as through despair: through a presumptuous hope during life, and through despair at the hour of death."

April 16th
St Bernardette Soubirous (1844-1879), Virgin; Lourdes, France; Feast day April 16th

"[She is] so lovely that, when you have seen her once, you would willingly die to see her again!"

"Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, a poor sinner."

"The Blessed Virgin chose me only because I was the  most ignorant."


Bl Joachim Piccolomini (1258-1305), Confessor; Sienna, Italy; Feast day April 16th

"You have taught me that an alms is given to Jesus Christ, in the persons of the poor: can we refuse Him anything?  And what is the advantage of riches, but that they be employed in purchasing treasures in heaven?"

St Magnus (d. 1104), Bishop, Martyr; Orkney, Scotland; Feast day April 16th

"I am ready to die a thousand times over for the cause of God and his flock; but in his name I command you to spare his people."

April 15th
St Peter Gonzales (1190-1246), Priest, Confessor; Galicia, Spain; Feast day April 15th

"If you love me, follow me!  If you cannot follow me, forget me!"

Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), Confessor; Kempen, Germany

"Lord, I praise and glorify Your steadfastness and perseverance in remaining on the Cross You embraced, and from which neither flattery nor empty promises could induce You to descend -- not for one brief moment would You have abandoned that which You had willingly ascended.  It was Your firm decision to remain unto the end and to die on the Cross You had chosen with so holy a love; likewise it was always Your desire to bring to a glorious end the work of salvation that You had initiated.  You, who taught others to persevere in doing good works, manifested Your obedience by remaining on the Cross, and by that example of Yours, You indicated to Your followers that they too must show constancy in being obedient."

St John Chrysostom (347-407), Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church; Antioch; Feast day September 13th

"If we keep ourselves in the presence of God we shall neither think nor say nor do what is wrong, convinced as we are that God is the witness of all our thoughts and words and actions."

"If you remove boiling water from the stove, it will soon cool off.  So it is with the human soul; to keep the fire of God's love aglow, the thought of His presence must be constantly before us."