‘He must increase, but I must decrease’ – there is a more intimate sense in which the words concern us. For the business of our life in this world, after all, is not to leave a mark on it behind us or to take an honored name away from it with us, but to make our peace with God before he calls us to a better one. And what is it, making our peace with God, but letting the influence of our Lord grow more and more in us, dominating our lives and throwing self into the background. He must increase; whenever he comes to me in Holy Communion, whenever he draws close to me in prayer, what is his purpose but that my will should be more his will, my life more his life. ‘I must decrease’ – this self that struggles so against the supernatural influence of his grace, that makes me so proud, so grasping, so quick to take offence: only as it decreases will he increase; only as he increases will it decrease. Thus would I live, yet now not I, but he in all his power and love henceforth alive in me.

– Msgr. Ronald Knox

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.

I am on the road towards the Holy in which I am already rooted. I abide in that towards which I constantly journey. On the one hand, I have not yet reached the goal of my pilgrimage, which is God, but on the other hand, God is not really far from any one of us: In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:27-28). God is our place. . .It takes a lifetime to realize fully that God is our place, that God is truly enough, that God alone is all we need and alone can bring us the peace and meaning we long for in life.

Father Charles Cummings, O.C.S.O.

For the Christian living in the world, real prayer is that which goes before action, and is its necessary concomitant. Human action is for God, what water is in baptism, and bread in the Eucharist; the material for divine operation. We cannot do without prayer, but it must be prolonged in action. I ought to plead to God for my neighbor in danger, but I should also hold out a hand to save him from drowning. The same Master who told us to pray without ceasing, commanded us also to go out and act.

– Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens

Worldly people have not the Holy Spirit, or if they have, it is only for a moment . . . The noise of the world drives Him away. A Christian who is led by the Holy Spirit has no difficulty in leaving the goods of this world, to run after those of heaven; he knows the difference between them. The eyes of the world see no further than this life . . . The eyes of the Christian see deep into eternity . . . We must therefore find out by whom we are led. If it is not by the Holy Spirit, we labor in vain.

– St. John Vianney

God himself says: I have loved thee with an everlasting love . . . He is our Savior; that is something that must never be forgotten. And it is as our Savior, that he enters into partnership with us. In fact, it is by that very partnership that he saves us. He comes to us full of perfect knowledge and unlimited love. He knows exactly what we are, and he knows exactly what our life will be. He knows all our defects and weaknesses, those that are natural to us, those that are the result of circumstances, and those that are the result of our own sins. He knows all that has happened or will happen to us. He knows all that might have been done for us or by us, but which has been neglected. He knows all our mistakes and all our sins; He knows all our misfortunes and all our miseries. He knows all these things in advance, but being the perfect Lover, he comes with the power of God to heal all these ills. He is perfectly prepared to repair our life completely if we do not prevent him.

– Father Eugene Boylan, O.C.S.O.

The study of inspired Scripture is the primary way to learn what our duty is in life. In it, we find not only instruction about conduct, but also accounts of the lives of blessed men and women. . . If we devote ourselves to imitating these saints, then no matter which virtue we may feel ourselves lacking, we can find in Scripture, as if in a medical clinic, the proper medicine for our particular ailment. . . We’re taught endurance by Job. He remained the same when the circumstances of life began to turn against him. In one moment, he was plunged from wealth into poverty, and from being the father of beautiful children into a childless man. He kept the right attitude in his soul all through these changes without being crushed. He wasn’t even stirred to anger against the friends who came to comfort him, but ended up trampling on him and making his troubles worse. When artists paint by imitating another artist’s work, they must constantly look at the model, doing their best to transfer its features to their own work. In the same way, those who seek to perfect themselves in every form of moral excellence must keep their eyes focused on the lives of the saints. . . In this way, they can make the saints’ virtues their own by imitation.
– St. Basil the Great

Being holy means living exactly as our Father in heaven wants us to live. You will say that it is difficult. It is. The ideal is a very high one. And yet it is also easy. It is within our reach. When a person becomes ill, there may be no appropriate medicine. But in supernatural affairs, it is not like that. The medicine is always at hand. It is Jesus Christ, present in the Holy Eucharist, and he also gives us his grace in the other sacraments which he established. Let us say again, in word and in action: ‘Lord, I trust in you. Your ordinary providence, your help each day, is all I need.’

– St. Josemaria Escriva

Jesus, our Savior, true God and true Man, must be the ultimate end of all our devotions. He’s the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End of everything. In him alone dwells the entire fullness of the Divinity and the complete fullness of grace, virtue, and perfection. In him alone we’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing. He’s the only Teacher from whom we must learn, the only Lord on whom we should depend, the only One to whom we should be united, and the only Model we should imitate. He’s the only Physician who can heal us; the only Shepherd who can feed us; the only Way that can lead us; the only Truth that we can believe; the only Life that can animate us. He alone is everything to us, and he alone can satisfy all our desires.

– St. Louis de Montfort

The holy exercise of prayer must be considered one of the chief foundations of Christian life and holiness, since the whole life of Jesus Christ was nothing but a perpetual prayer; which you must continue and express in your life. Neither the earth on which you live, the air you breathe, the bread that sustains you, or the heart that beats in your breast is as necessary for bodily life as prayer is to a Christian . . . Look upon prayer as the first, the principal, the most necessary, the most urgent, and the most important business of your life. As far as possible, free yourself from all less important duties, so you can give as much time as possible to prayer, especially in the morning and evening.

-St. John Eudes