“If you have begun to act well, do not turn back through constraint of the enemy, for your endurance destroys the enemy. Those who put out to sea at first sail with a favorable wind. Then the sails spread, but later the winds become adverse. Then the waves toss the...
“The Cross, if you wish to define it, is the confirmation of victory, the way by which God descended to man, the trophy against material spirits, the repulsion of death, the foundation of the ascent to the true day, and the ladder for those who hurry to enjoy the light...
“Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” St. Augustine of Hippo (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”...
“While men, indeed, cannot make anything out of nothing, but only out of matter already existing, yet God is in this point preeminently superior to men, that He Himself called into being the substance of His creation, when previously it had no existence.” St. Irenaeus (2nd-3rd centuries) “For God, being...
“If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.” St. Peter Chrysologus (5th century, Doctor of the Church) “We can be excused for not...
“O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth, melody to the ear of her devout clients!” St. Anthony of Padua (12th-13th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “Never has it been known, dearest Lady and Mother, that anyone who fled to your protection was left unaided.” Bl....
“There is no remedy so powerful against the heat of concupiscence as the remembrance of our Saviour’s Passion. In all my difficulties, I never found anything so efficacious as the wounds of Christ. In them I sleep secure. From them, I derive new life.” St. Augustine of Hippo (4th-5th centuries,...
“When Peter preached the Word publicly at Rome and declared the Gospel by the Spirit, many who were present requested that Mark, who had been a long time his follower and who remembered his saying, should write down what had been proclaimed.” St. Clement of Alexandria (2nd-3rd centuries) “The study...
“Pray without ceasing on behalf of other men…for cannot he that falls rise again.” St. Ignatius of Antioch (1st -2nd centuries) “In charity, follow the deceased with sorrow and with offerings, and pray that he may have rest in the hidden place where he is going.” St. Ephraim the Syrian...
“Realize, O Christian, your dignity. Once made a partaker in the divine nature, do not return to your former baseness by a life unworthy of that dignity.” Pope St. Leo the Great (4th-5th centuries, Doctor of the Church) “Obviously, those who claim to abide in Christ ought to walk as...