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
St. Paul teaches that this life of ours is like traveling abroad from our home country. He says, As long as we are in the body, we are traveling away from the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6). Since we are still traveling in a foreign land, we ought to keep in mind what our home country is – that country to which we must hasten by turning our backs on the attractions and delights of this life. This homeland toward which we travel is the only place where we can find true rest because God does not wish us to find rest anywhere else. The reason is simple: if God gave us perfect rest while we were still abroad, we would find no pleasure in returning home.
– St Augustine
Slowly we begin to discover the treasures in silence. We hear the word of God in the milieu of silence. Out of that milieu, God spoke one word through which the world was created and redeemed. We are quietly receptive to this word and through it we gradually learn tobe attentive to truth. What whets the appetite for spiritual nourishment? It is silence. When we become aware of this, a time for silence in our daily lives becomes essential. . . Meister Eckhart (14th century Christian mystic) wrote: ‘There is nothing more like God than silence.’ We become content with the silence of God outside or inside of prayer. Through and in silence, we stand still before God and we find the beauty of his reality. The silence of God’s love is too great for any expression. The book of Wisdom tells us, When night was at its deepest point and all was stilled and silent, your word oh Lord, came down. To this word we listen, respond to love, and live and listen again.
-Carolyn Humphreys
“Place all your hope in the heart of Jesus; it is a safe haven; for he who trusts in God is sheltered and protected by his mercy. To this firm hope, join the practice of virtue, and even in this life you will begin to taste the ineffable joys of Paradise.”
– St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Padre Pio Devotions newest book:
They Walked with God Book 2: St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, St. John Bosco
October 15
The Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila
Let your desire be to see God; your fear, that you may lose him; your sorrow, that you are not having fruition of him; your joy, that he can bring you to himself. Thus you will live in great peace.
– St. Teresa of Avila
It is a great advantage to have a room or a corner of a room . . . reserved for the discipline of solitude . . .There we dwell in the presence of the Lord. Although the discipline of solitude asks us to set aside time and space, what finally matters is that our hearts become like quiet cells where God can dwell, wherever we go and whatever we do. The more we train ourselves to spend time with God and him alone, the more we will discover that God is with us at all times and in all places. Then we will be able to recognize him even in the midst of a busy and active life. Once the solitude of time and space has become a solitude of the heart, we will never have to leave that solitude. We will be able to live the spiritual life in any place and any time. Thus the discipline of solitude enables us to live active lives in the world, while remaining always in the presence of the living God.
– Henri Nouwen
October 13
Feast of St. Edward the Confessor
Edward grew up in innocence, delighting chiefly in assisting at Mass and in association with the clergy. In 1041, when Edward was forty years old, he was raised to the throne of England. The virtues of his earlier years – simplicity, gentleness, humility and charity, but above all his angelic purity, shone with new brightness. He loved to stand at his palace gate, speaking kindly to the poor beggars and lepers who crowded about him, many of whom were healed by his touch. Being devoid of personal ambition, King Edward’s one aim was the welfare of his people. His reign of twenty-four years was one of almost unbroken peace. One man who knew St. Edward said of him, “He was devoted to God and directed by God. He lived the life of an angel in the administration of his kingdom.’ Edward died on January 5, 1066. Many miracles occurred at his tomb. In 1102 his body was exhumed and found to be incorrupt. He was canonized in 1161. St. Edward the Confessor is the patron saint of difficult marriages, separated spouses, and kings.
Consider God’s generosity toward you rather than your own unworthiness in his sight, and live in his strength, rather than in the thoughts of your own weakness.
– St. Vincent de Paul
One of the most important things you can do to improve your spiritual life and your mental health is to fill your mind with uplifting thoughts. If you hold on to hurtful memories, they will only make you sick. You have a choice. You can reject them. Decide firmly that you will not let the past drag you down. Turn to the Lord and ask for help. Pray for the grace to come into the present moment. You don’t have to work endlessly through the toxic effects of the past. Once you decide to change, the process can begin. St. Teresa of Avila used to repeat to herself over and over, ‘Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing cause you fear. God is unchanging. God will suffice.’ With the Lord at your side, you can do all things. Remember the words of Jesus, I have told you all these things that your joy may be full (John 15:11).
– Father John Catoir
How are we to be reborn and become whole? By finding our true center which is God, finding God in all things, and the desire for God in all desires, and so beginning to live the life of worship instead of the life of self-worship. But this in its turn implies a precedent turning away from the false self, an acknowledgment of our essential insufficiency; and because of our state of sin, an acknowledgment of our need of a Savior without whom we cannot, in our bondage, turn away from ourselves . . . We find God by realizing, in the first place, our need of God, as a child realizes its need of a father.
– Father Gerald Vann, O.P.
