“In this life our lot is not to enjoy God,
but to do his holy will.”
St. Teresa of Avila
(in the middle of the woods in nowhere west Georgia / Julie Cook / 2021)
“I desire that you know more profoundly the love that burns in My Heart for souls,
and you will understand this when you meditate upon My Passion.
Call upon My mercy on behalf of sinners;
I desire their salvation.
When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on
behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion.
This is the prayer: ‘O Blood and Water,
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us,
I trust in You.’ “
St. Faustina Kowalska, p. 186-7
An Excerpt From
Diary of St. Faustina
“Be sure that you first preach by the way you live.
If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing,
but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical
laughter and a derisive shake of the head.”
St. Charles Borromeo
“The will of God gives to all things a supernatural and divine value
for the soul submitting to it. The duties it imposes,
and those it contains, with all the matters over which it is diffused,
become holy and perfect, because, being unlimited in power,
everything it touches shares its divine character…
The entire virtue of all that is called holy is in its approximation
to this order established by God; therefore nothing should
be rejected, nothing sought after,
but everything accepted that is ordained and nothing
attempted contrary to the will of God…
When God requires action, sanctity is to be found in activity.”
Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, p. 15
An Excerpt From
Abandonment to Divine Providence
“To join two things together there must be nothing between
them or there cannot be a perfect fusion.
Now realize that this is how God wants our soul to be,
without any selfish love of ourselves or of others in between,
just as God loves us without anything in between.”
St. Catherine of Siena
‘He that deceives me once, its his fault;
but if twice, its my fault.’”
“The Italians having a Proverb,
Shock, anger, resentment, betrayal, loss, sorrow, bereft, bewildered,
now rage…
Tumbling, falling, rolling, sliding— lost..into an abyss
Hear us oh Lord…
He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you,
persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out
and trampled underfoot.
“You are the light of the world.
A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone
in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds and glorify
your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:3-16
And Jesus said…I am here for a revolution.
Not a revolt, but a revolution.
Believer…are you ready?
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.
Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections,
but instantly set about remedying them, every day begin the task anew.”
St. Francis de Sales
(a lovely red zinnia / Julie Cook / 2021)
“Let us not fancy that if we cry a great deal we have done all that
is needed—rather we must work hard and practice the virtues:
that is the essential—leaving tears to fall when God sends them,
without trying to force ourselves to shed them.
Then, if we do not take too much notice of them,
they will leave the parched soil of our souls well watered,
making it fertile in good fruit; for this is the water which
falls from Heaven.
I think it is best for us to place ourselves in the presence of God,
contemplate His mercy and grandeur and our own vileness and
leave Him to give us what He will, whether water or drought,
for He knows best what is good for us;
thus we enjoy peace and the devil will have less chance to deceive us.”
St. Teresa of Avila, p.147
An Except From
Interior Castle
“O man, when the world hates you and is faithless toward you, think of your God,
how he was struck and spat upon.
You should not accuse your neighbor of guilt,
but pray to God that he be merciful to you both.”
St. Nicholas of Flue
(I think it’s called an Autumn cherry…despite it’s prolific blooms during early Spring / Julie Cook / 2021)
“This world is filled with many vulgar and dishonorable things that will claw and tear at your
Christian purity if you allow them to.
Don’t let them!
Seek instead the things of God.
He will purify you and free you from your slavery to profane and inconsequential things.”
Patrick Madrid, p.1
An Excerpt From
A Year with the Bible
“To use this life well is the pathway through death to everlasting life.”
St. John Almond
(Methodist Chruch, Cades Cove /The Great Smokey Mt.s National Park / Julie Cook / 2015)
“Even if you do not confess, God is not ignorant of the deed,
since he knew it before it was committed.
Why then do you not speak of it?
Does the transgression become heavier by the confession?
No, it becomes lighter and less troublesome.
And this is why he wants you to confess:
not that you should be punished, but that you should be forgiven;
not that he may learn your sin—how could that be, since he has seen it?—
but that you may learn what favor he bestows.
He wishes you to learn the greatness of his grace,
so that you may praise him perfectly, that you may be slower to sin,
that you may be quicker to virtue.
And if you do not confess the greatness of the need,
you will not understand the enormous magnitude of his grace.”
St. John Chrysostom, p. 255
An Excerpt From
A Year with Church Fathers
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