Lord, Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, I thank you, for even though I am a sinner . . . not because of my worth but in the kindness of your mercy, you have fed me with the precious Body and Blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this Holy Communion may not bring me condemnation . . . but forgiveness and salvation. May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of goodwill. May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions. May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good. May it be my strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses, bodily and spiritual. May it unite me more closely to you, the one true God, and lead me safely through death to everlasting happiness with you. And I pray that you will lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where you with your Son and Holy Spirit are true and perfect light, total fulfillment, everlasting joy, gladness without end, and perfect happiness to your saints. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen – St. Thomas Aquinas

When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well (in the sense that some of his bad habits are now corrected), he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along – illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation – he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days, but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level, putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary, but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us.

– C.S. Lewis

As disciples, we’re asked to pick up our own cross and walk after Jesus. What a beautiful prayer to ask God, morning after morning, to open our ears, to open our hearts to his Word (Isaiah 50:4). And perhaps, most important of all, to give us that deep trust, that deep courage that will allow us to believe that the Lord is our help and that he is near us.

– Father Francis Michael Stiteler, O.C.S.O.

My heart is at peace when I want what God wants, when I desire only what He desires. My mind is at peace when I know what God knows insofar as a creature can participate in the ocean of divine wisdom. My mind is at peace when I assent because I want to do whatever God has revealed. Not because I understand what this means or can explain the mysteries of revelation, but because I trust in God’s authority and submit my intellect to His. In a word, I have peace of mind when I have the truth; when my thoughts agree with God’s thoughts, and my judgments correspond to His, I have the truth and I am at peace. Peace of mind, then, is the experience of the truth. It is the result of truth. It is the fruit of truth.

– Father John Hardon

Jesus, Master, sanctify my mind and increase my faith. Jesus, teaching in the Church, draw everyone to yourself. Jesus, Master, deliver me from error, empty thoughts and eternal blindness. Jesus, Way between the Father and ourselves, I offer you everything and await all from you. Jesus, Way of sanctity, help me to imitate you faithfully. Jesus, Way, may I respond wholeheartedly to the Father’s call to holiness. Jesus, Life, live in me so that I may live in you. Jesus, Life, do not ever permit anything to separate me from you. Jesus, Life, grant that I may live eternally in the joy of your love. Jesus, Truth, may you shine in the world through me. Jesus, Way, may I be a faithful mirror of your example for others. Jesus, Life, may I be a channel of your grace and consolation to others.

– Father James Alberione

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He waits for you in the ciborium, your Friend of yesterday; the Friend whose intimacy you have so often forgotten, and more than once have even betrayed. All that he has forgiven you, as a friend does . . . Your Friend yesterday – Your Friend today, when you are so little conscious of the need for such a friendship . . . His love, so little felt and so little realized, is strengthening itself in your heart, waiting for the day when you will need it more. Your Friend today, your Friend forever . . . His friendship will remain unaltered; His presence in the Blessed Sacrament will still wait for you, the same as ever . . . And at last when death comes, all earthly ties must slip away from you, even then this Friendship will be yours . . . Your Friend forever.

– Monsignor Ronald Knox

We must not drift away from the humble works because these are the works that nobody will do. It is never too small. Even if you write a letter for a blind man or you just go and sit and listen or you take the mail for them or you visit somebody or bring a flower to somebody – small things . . . Very humble work, that is where you and I must be. For there are many people who can do big things but there are very few people who will do the small things. It is the small things that Sisters and Brothers do. We can do very little for the people, but at least they know that we love them and that we care for them and that we are at their disposal.

– Mother Teresa of Calcutta

That Samaritan of ours, namely Christ . . . took pity on him (the man lying on the roadside) when he was passing the same way . . . He lifted him up from the ground, and placed him on his own mount . . . And so you must beware of ever becoming conceited about your own merits. You didn’t have any, after all, when the Lord came to pick you up. In fact he found you naked, without any clothes; he found you beaten up, not in good health; he found you lying on the ground, not standing on your own feet; he discovered you straying, not returning on your own . . . You see, when you say . . . “The Lord is my guide,” you will confidently be able to add, “and I will lack nothing”. . .

– St. Augustine

We all work for results. We do not perhaps recognize the aim of our strivings at success. But we want to see our work issue in results which will gratify us and bring commendation or notice to us. We can do this even in the pursuit of holiness. But to work for results is not the same as to do God’s will. This attitude of mind is due partly to our criterion of success . . . It is due partly to our pride . . . God has given us this life for one purpose, that is to prepare for the vision of him hereafter. This means that he expects us to use life to bring about a radical change within ourselves. This change involves principally that we learn to do his will because it is his will. That is holiness. Anything else is a form of self-seeking. We do not say that it is sinful, but it is selfish. And it will not sanctify us.

– Father Nivard Kinsella, O.C.S.O.

Complete freedom from fear is one of those things we owe wholly to Our Lord. To be afraid is to do him a double injury. First, it is to forget him, to forget that that he is with us, that he loves us and is himself almighty, and second it is to fail to bend to his will. If we shape our will to his, as everything that happens is either willed or allowed by him, we shall find joy in whatever happens, and shall never be disturbed or afraid.

– Charles de Foucauld