Wisdom of the Saints: Quotes by St. Padre Pio

While reading letters written by St. Padre Pio, I came across a couple of quotes that I wanted to pass on:

"...we are not alone in our sufferings, for all the followers of the Nazarene scattered throughout the world suffer in the same manner."-Saint Padre Pio

"...stay in the boat in which our Lord has placed you, and let the storm come. You will not perish."- Saint Padre Pio

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Holy Week Contemplation by saint Josemaria Escriva

The tragedy of the passion brings to fulfilment our own life and the whole of human history. We can't let Holy Week be just a kind of commemoration. It means contemplating the mystery of Jesus Christ as something which continues to work in our souls. The Christian is obliged to be alter Christus, ipse Christus: another Christ, Christ himself. Through baptism all of us have been made priests of our lives, "to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Everything we do can be an expression of our obedience to God's will and so perpetuate the mission of the Godman.
Once we realize this, we are immediately reminded of our wretchedness and our personal failings. But they should not dishearten us; we should not become pessimistic and put our ideals aside. Our Lord is calling us, in our present state, to share his life and make an effort to be holy. I know holiness can sound like an empty word. Too many people think it is unattainable, something to do with ascetical theology — but not a real goal for them, a living reality. The first Christians didn't think that way. They often used the word "saints" to describe each other in a very natural manner: "greetings to all the saints"; "my greetings to every one of the saints in Jesus Christ."
Take a look now at Calvary. Jesus has died and there is as yet no sign of his glorious triumph. It is a good time to examine how much we really want to live as Christians, to be holy. Here is our chance to react against our weaknesses with an act of faith. We can trust in God and resolve to put love into the things we do each day. The experience of sin should lead us to sorrow. We should make a more mature and deeper decision to be faithful and truly identify ourselves with Christ, persevering, no matter what it costs, in the priestly mission that he has given every single one of his disciples. That mission should spur us on to be the salt and light of the world.
Saint Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 96

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Between wearing green so not to get pinched and putting food dye in beer, the actual feast day has gotten lost in an ever growing list of secular traditions. Today, the real St. Patrick has taken a back seat to leprechauns. If you are curious about the Saint behind the day, here are some well known quotes from St. Patrick so you may get to know him a little better:

"Before I was humiliated I was like a stone that lies in deep mud, and he who is mighty came and in his compassion raised me up and exalted me very high and placed me on the top of the wall."

"Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me."

"I am Patrick, a sinner, most uncultivated and least of all the faithful and despised in the eyes of many."

"If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them still look down on me."

"No one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God's good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought, that - as is the perfect truth - it was the gift of God."

"That which I have set out in Latin is not my words but the words of God and of apostles and prophets, who of course have never lied. He who believes shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be damned. God has spoken."

"The Lord opened the understanding of my unbelieving heart, so that I should recall my sins."

If you would like to learn more about Saint Patrick's life, go to: http://www.catholicadventure.com/2010/03/facts-about-st-patricks-day-and-real-st.html

Beautiful Lent Reflection - Meaning of the Cross

The following is a beautiful writing on the meaning of the cross. The prose were so full of imagery that I thought it was a contemporary reflection, but later found out that it was from a ninth century monk. Saint Theodore the Studite, who was one of the last Fathers of the Early Church, penned this work entitled, “The Precious and Life-Giving Cross of Christ”. Read it slowly and enjoy.

"How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.

This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the Lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brave warrior wounded in his hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom’s pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness.

The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn.
Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God’s command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons’ wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God’s own people?

Aaron’s rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son
Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood?

By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven."

Wisdom from the Saints: St. Padre Pio

"The spirit of God is a spirit of peace. Even in the most serious faults He makes us feel a sorrow that is tranquil, humble, and confident and this is precisely because of His mercy.

The spirit of the devil, instead, excites, exasperates, and make us feel, in that very sorrow [for our sins], anger against ourselves, whereas we should, on the contrary, be charitable with ourselves first and foremost.

Therefore, if any thought agitates you, this agitation never comes from God, who gives you peace, being the Spirit of Peace, but from the devil."