It's Not Too Late

'To the one who still remains in this world, no repentance is too late.'

St. Cyprian

Painting: Giovanni Bellini

Will I Walk With Him?

'O Christians, it is time to defend your King
and to accompany Him in such great solitude.'

St. Teresa of Avila

Painting: James Tissot 

With Works of Piety

'Rise now,
O handmaid of the Lord,
and go in the procession
of the daughters of Zion
to see your true king....
Accompany the Lord
of heaven and earth,
sitting on the back of the colt,
follow Him with
olive branches and palms,
with works of piety
and triumphant virtues.'

St. Bonaventure 








 





Painting: James Tissot

What Further Delights

'When you view fields and seashores, flowers and fruits, which gladden you with their appearance or with their fragrance, say: How many beautiful things God has made for me on this earth in order that I may love Him!  What further delights He has in store for me in heaven!'

St. Alphonsus de Liguori

N Shuman photo

When Our Souls are Full of Spiritual Joy

'There is this difference, dearly beloved brethren, between spiritual and earthly pleasures. So long as we do not yet enjoy them, earthly pleasures are greatly desired; but when they are partaken to the full, our liking for them soon begins to pall. 

'Spiritual joys, on the other hand, are a matter of indifference to us when we do not possess them, but once we begin to experience them, we desire them.... When our souls are full of spiritual joy we long for more, since by tasting it we learn to desire it more eagerly. We cannot love what we do not possess, because we do not know its savor.'

St. Gregory the Great 

Painting: De Keyser, St. Margaretha

Memo From Housekeeping

Don't mind me - I'm just doing a bit of blogkeeping. Some people close their blogs while they work on templates and headers, but I'm just as happy to let you go through variations in color schemes right alongside me.  I don't want anyone thinking this little spot on the Internet has closed, when really I'm just rearranging a few pieces of furniture.

One thing that will stay the same is the blog's contents and layout. Colors may or may not change (in all likelihood, they'll change and then come back to exactly what they were). Please bear with me - oh, I hope you will! - while I'm checking out how gold brocade curtains look when hung beside plaid purple wallpaper.  So to speak. Anything too garish is probably temporary, and I'm sure there will be a number of 'temporaries' throughout this ..interesting?... day.

In the meantime, please pull up a chair and browse our archives. In keeping with the spirit of Lent, I invite you to start by clicking here.

Not Without Astonishment

'Even the tiniest insect cannot be considered attentively 

without astonishment and without praising the Creator.'

St. Augustine

Painting: Jan van Kessel

Mirror Mirror

'It seems to me that the 
words of the Psalms become 
like a mirror to 
the person singing them, 
so that he might 
see himself and 
the emotions of his soul.'

St. Athanasius of Alexandria








Detail of a Painting by Georges de La Tour

If They Were To...

'Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him, and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola









Painting: John Singer Sargent, in US public domain due to age

The Bridge Over Temptations

 

'Prayer is

the bridge over temptations,

and the death of sadness,

and the token of future glory.'

St.John Climacus

Painting: Thaulow Franskt

For Those Lowliest Household Duties

'St. Catherine of Sienna, 
Doctor of the Church, 
favored with ecstasies, 
cooked meals in the convent kitchen
and performed the lowliest household duties, seeing in them the will of God. 
It is important to direct rightly all our actions, however lowly they may be, 
to God's service.'

St. Francis de Sales






Painting: Edgar Degas, Woman Ironing

A Heart Set on Fire

'As a flame increases when it is constantly fed, so prayer, made often, with the mind dwelling ever more deeply in God, arouses divine love in the heart.  And the heart, set on fire, will warm all the inner man, will enlighten and teach him, revealing to him wisdom, and making him like a flaming seraph always standing before God in his spirit, always looking at Him within his mind, and drawing from this vision the sweetness of spiritual joy.'

St. Dmitri of Rostov




Painting: Georges de la Tour

How to Unite Your Will to God's Today

"During the activities of the day, spiritual as well as temporal, as often as you can ... unite your will to God’s ...

Do this either by a simple, loving glance at God, or by a few words spoken quietly and cast into His Heart; by assenting in words like:

‘Yes, Lord, I want to do this action because You want it,’ or simply, ‘Yes, Father,’ or ‘O Holy Will, live and rule in me,’ or other words that the Holy Spirit will suggest to you. You may also make a simple sign of a cross over your heart, or kiss the cross you are wearing. All this will show that above everything, you want to do the holy will of God and seek nothing but his glory in all that you do..." 

St. Jane de Chantal                                                                                      

Painting: William Merritt Chase, Wash Day, 1886

                                         

To Nourish This Love

                          'Everything leads us to the love of our Lord.
                          All things nourish and feed this love...
                          It lives on our sorrows and consoles them; 
                          It lives on our sufferings and rewards them;
                          It lives on our sacrifices and makes them precious;
                          It lives on our pleasures and adds to them;
                          It lives on our hopes and fulfills them;
                          And in a word it will create our happiness,
                          Now and for ever.'


                                          from 'Listening to the Indwelling Presence" by a Religious, Pellegrini, , 1940, p. 5





                                 Painting: Henri Fantin-Latour, Still Life with a Carafe, Flowers and Fruit
                   

Given to Spiritual Reading

'You will not see anyone who is truly striving after his 

spiritual advancement who is not given to spiritual reading.'

St. Athanasius of Alexandria

Painting: Emil Rau Lesendes Mädchen, in US public domain due to expired copyright

In the Faith of the Living

'The death of the martyrs blossoms in the faith of the living.'

Pope St. Gregory I

Painting: John Marshall Gamble