Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent. 1
St. John of the Cross
The more we are afflicted in this world, the greater is our assurance in the next; the more we sorrow in the present, the greater will be our joy in the future. 2
St. Isidore of Seville
In the same way that a powerful medicine cures an illness, so illness itself is a medicine to cure passion. And there is much profit of soul in bearing illness quietly and giving thanks to God. 3
St. Amma Syncletice
When it is all over you will not regret having suffered; rather you will regret having suffered so little, and suffered that little so badly. 4
St. Sebastian Valfre
If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men. 5
St. Rose of Lima
The purest suffering bears and carries in its train the purest understanding. 6
St. John of the Cross
Trials and tribulations offer us a chance to make reparation for our past faults and sins. On such occasions the Lord comes to us like a physician to heal the wounds left by our sins. Tribulation is the divine medicine. 7
St. Augustine of Hippo
We must often draw the comparison between time and eternity. This is the remedy of all our troubles. How small will the present moment appear when we enter that great ocean. 8
St. Elizebeth Ann Seton
If you embrace all things in this life as coming from the hands of God, and even embrace death to fulfill His holy will, assuredly you will die a saint. 9
St. Alphonsus Liguor
It is loving the Cross that one finds one heart, for Divine Love cannot live without suffering. 10
St. Bernadette
We are at Jesus' disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that's all right, everything is all right. We must say, "I belong to you. You can do whatever you like." And this ..is our strength, and this is the joy of the Lord. 11
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Would that men might come at last to see that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there its consolation and desire. The soul that longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket of the cross. 12
St. John of the Cross
The wicked exist in this world either to be converted or that through them the good may exercise patience. 13
St. Augustine
Many would be willing to have afflictions provided that they not be inconvenienced by them." 14
St. Francis de Sales
The principal act of courage is to endure and withstand dangers doggedly rather than to attack them." 15
St. Thomas Aquinas
What was the life of Christ but a perpetual humiliation? 16
St. Vincent de Paul
I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused. 17
St. Therese of Lisieux
Why should we defend ourselves when we are misunderstood and misjudged? Let us leave that aside. Let us not say anything. It is so sweet to let others judge us in any way they like. O blessed silence, which gives so much peace to the soul! 18
St. Therese of Lisieux
As soon as worldly people see that you wish to follow a devout life they aim a thousand darts of mockery and even detraction at you. The most malicious of them will slander your conversion as hypocrisy, bigotry, and trickery. They will say that the world has turned against you and being rebuffed by it you have turned to God. Your friends will raise a host of objections which they consider very prudent and charitable. They will tell you that you will become depressed, lose your reputation in the world, be unbearable, and grow old before your time, and that your affairs at home will suffer. You must live in the world like one in the world. They will say that you cansave your soul without going to such extremes, and a thousand similar trivialities. 19
St. Francis de Sales
Truth suffers, but never dies. 20
St. Teresa of Avila
All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. 21
St. Francis of Assisi
He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it. 22
Blessed Titus Brandsma
Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. I have an ever deeper and firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to the smallest details has been marked out for me in the plan of Divine Providence and has a completely coherent meaning in God's all-seeing eyes. And so I am beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me. 23
St. Edith Stein
Your first task is to be dissatisfied with yourself, fight sin, and transform yourself into something better. Your second task is to put up with the trials and temptations of this world that will be brought on by the change in your life and to persevere to the very end in the midst of these things. 24
St. Augustine
Let us not esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment, but let us live elsewhere, and raise all our attention to Heaven; esteeming sin as the only true evil, and nothing truly good, but virtue which unites us to God. 25
St. Gregory Nazianzen
Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you all your life. God will reward you as only He can. 26
Blessed Mary MacKillop
... our Lord Jesus, whose footsteps we ought to follow, called his betrayer “friend,” and offered himself willingly to his executioners. Therefore all those who unjustly inflict upon us tribulations, anguish, shame and injuries, sorrows and torments, martyrdom and death, are our friends whom we ought to love much, because we shall gain eternal life by those things which they make us suffer. And let us hate our body with its vices and sins, because by living in pleasures it wishes to rob us of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and eternal life, and to lose itself with everything else in hell.” 27
St. Francis of Assisi
Why should you worry whether God wants you to reach the heavenly home by way of the desert or by the fields, when by the one as well as by the other one arrives all the same at a Blessed Eternity? Keep far from you excessive preoccupation which arises from the trials which the good God wishes to visit upon you. 28
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Jesus who cannot suffer long to keep you in affliction will come to relieve and comfort you by infusing fresh courage into your soul. 29
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of trial and in the exaltation after the combat. 30
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
If the soul would know the merit which one acquires in temptations suffered in patience and conquered, it would be tempted to say: "Lord, send me temptations." 31
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
It is necessary to be strong, in order to become great: that is our duty. Life is a struggle, which we cannot avoid. We must triumph! 32
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
On this earth everyone has his cross. But we must act in such a way that we be not the bad, but good thief. 33
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Do not let your heart become troubled by the sad spectacle of human injustice. Even this has its value in the face of all else. And it is from this that one day you will see the justice of God rising with unfailing triumph. 34
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Let us understand that God is a physician, and that suffering is a medicine for salvation, not a punishment for damnation. 35
St. Augustine
We must always choose the most perfect. Two good works present themselves to be done, one in favour of a person we love, the other in favour of a person who has done us some harm. Well, we must give preference to the latter. 36
St. John Vianney
One day I unwittingly made a mistake that incensed the master's son. He became furious, snatched me violently from my hiding place, and began to strike me ferociously with the lash and his feet. Finally he left me half dead, completely unconscious. Some slaves carried me away and lay me on a straw mat, where I remained for over a month. A woman skilled in this cruel art [tattooing] came to the general's house...our mistress stood behind us, whip in hand. The woman had a dish of white flour, a dish of salt and a razor... When she had made her patterns; the woman took the razor and made incisions along the lines. Salt was poured into each of the wounds... My face was spared, but 6 patterns were designed on my breasts, and 60 more on my belly and arms. I thought I would die, especially when salt was poured in the wounds...it was by a miracle of God I didn't die. He had destined me for better things. 37
St. Josephine Bakhita
(describing some miseries during her time as a slave.)
The Christian law commands that we forgive our enemies and those who have wronged us. I must therefore say here that I forgive Taikosama. I would rather have all the Japanese become Christians. 38
St. Paul Miki one of the Martyrs of Nagasaki
There is no more evident sign that anyone is a saint and of the number of the elect, than to see him leading a good life and at the same time a prey to desolation, suffering, and trials. 39
St. Aloysius Gonzaga
If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. 40
St. Thomas Aquinas
If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured. 41
St. Colette
Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain. 42
St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen
In suffering, love, and in loving, suffer! 43
Blessed Maria Lopez of Jesus
I die the King's good servant, but God's first. 44
St. Thomas More (at his execution)
Do not be dismayed by toil or suffering, nor by the meager fruit of your labours. Remember that God rewards not according to results, but effort. 45
Blessed Zefirino Agostini
I have made a contract with my body. It has promised to accept harsh treatment from me on earth, and I have promised that it shall receive eternal rest in heaven. 46
St. Peter of Alcantara
A thousand difficulties do not make a single doubt. 47
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman
We should even go beyond doing what is required in order to avoid scandal. 48
St. Basil the Great
Suffering borne in the will quietly and patiently is a continual, very powerful prayer before God. 49
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
To harbor no envy, no anger, no resentment against an offender is still not to have charity for him. It is possible, without any charity, to avoid rendering evil for evil. But to render, spontaneously, good for evil -- such belongs to a perfect spiritual love. 50
St Maximus the Confessor
We should love and feel compassion for those who unjustly oppose us, since they harm themselves and do us good, for they adorn us with crowns of everlasting glory. 51
St Anthony Mary Zaccaria
I do not really know if it is a gain to exchange the crown of martrydom with two or three years of life in freedom. But I leave the good Lord to decide. 52
Blessed Pavol Goidic
The Prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of his sickness for the love of Jesus Christ. Make sickness itself a prayer, for there is none more powerful, save martyrdom! 53
St Francis de Sales
We must understand then, that even though God doesn't always give us what we want, He always gives us what we need for our salvation. 54
St Augustine
When we must do something we dislike, let us say to God, " My God I offer You this in honor of the moment when You died for me." 55
St. John Vianney
Can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die? 56
Blessed Imelda Lambertini
If your enemies see that you grow courageous, and that you will neither be seduced by flatteries nor disheartened by the pains and trials of your journey, but rather are contented with them, they will grow afraid of you. 57
Blessed Henry Suso
Do not grieve over the temptations you suffer. When the Lord intends to bestow a particular virtue on us, He often permits us first to be tempted by the opposite vice. Therefore, look upon every temptation as an invitation to grow in a particular virtue and a promise by God that you will be successful, if only you stand fast. 58
St. Philip Neri
He who wishes to love God does not truly love Him if he has not an ardent and constant desire to suffer for His sake. 59
St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Do not let any occasion of gaining merit pass without taking care to draw some spiritual profit from it; as, for example, from a sharp word which someone may say to you; from an act of obedience imposed against your will; from an opportunity which may occur to humble yourself, or to practice charity, sweetness, and patience. All of these occasions are gain for you, and you should seek to procure them; and at the close of that day, when the greatest number of them have come to you, you should go to rest most cheerful and pleased ... 60
St. Ignatius Loyola
Can you expect to go to heaven for nothing? Did not our Savior track the whole way to it with His tears and blood? And yet you stop at every little pain. 61
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
True charity consists in putting up with all one's neighbor's faults, never being surprised by his weakness, and being inspired by the least of his virtues. 62
St. Therese of Lisieux
If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. 63
St. Augustine of Hippo
All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone - for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good. 64
St. John Vianney
God’s invitation to become saints is for all, not just a few. Sanctity therefore must be accessible to all. In what does it consist? In a lot of activity? No. In doing extraordinary things? No, this could not be for everybody and at all times. Therefore, sanctity consists in doing good, and in doing this good in whatever condition and place God has placed us. Nothing more, nothing outside of this. 65
Blessed Louis Tezza
If the Lord should give you power to raise the dead, He would give much less than He does when he bestows suffering. By miracles you would make yourself debtor to Him, while by suffering He may become debtor to you. And even if sufferings had no other reward than being able to bear something for that God who loves you, is not this a great reward and a sufficient remuneration? Whoever loves, understands what I say. 66
St. John Chrysostom
Oh, my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value. 67
St. Teresa of Avila
Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved. 68
St. John of the Cross
God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering. 69
St. Augustine of Hippo
Don't give in to discouragement....... If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinions. Be obedient to truth. For with humble obedience, you will never be disturbed. 70
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which He desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of Divine Love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the Cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior used to finish His sacrifice. All the pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ. That is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ. 71
St. Ignatius of Loyola
If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today… The Lord has loved me so much: we must love everyone… we must be compassionate! 72
St. Josephine Bakhita
When shall it be that we shall taste the sweetness of the Divine Will in all that happens to us, considering in everything only His good pleasure, by whom it is certain that adversity is sent with as much love as prosperity, and as much for our good? When shall we cast ourselves undeservedly into the arms of our most loving Father in Heaven, leaving to Him the care of ourselves and of our affairs, and reserving only the desire of pleasing Him, and of serving Him well in all that we can? 73
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured. 74
St. Colette
I will attempt day by day to break my will into pieces. I want to do God's Holy Will, not my own! 75
St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother
Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. He assumed the worse that He might give us the better; He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich. 76
St. Gregory Nazianzen
When we have to reply to anyone who has insulted us, we should be careful to do it always with gentleness. A soft answer extinguishes the fire of wrath. 77
St. Alphonsus Liguori
If there be a true way that leads to the Everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured. 78
St. Colette
When shall it be that we shall taste the sweetness of the Divine Will in all that happens to us, considering in everything only His good pleasure, by whom it is certain that adversity is sent with as much love as prosperity, and as much for our good? When shall we cast ourselves undeservedly into the arms of our most loving Father in Heaven, leaving to Him the care of ourselves and of our affairs, and reserving only the desire of pleasing Him, and of serving Him well in all that we can? 79
St. Jane Frances de Chantal
We are at Jesus' disposal. If he wants you to be sick in bed, if he wants you to proclaim His work in the street, if he wants you to clean the toilets all day, that's all right, everything is all right. We must say, "I belong to you. You can do whatever you like." And this ..is our strength, and this is the joy of the Lord. 80
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes. 81
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcino
What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart. 82
St. Margaret Mary Alac
I would give my life a thousand times that God might not be offended. 83
St. Gerard Majella
I thought a time would come when people would rout me out of Ars with sticks, when the Bishop would suspend me, and I should end my days in prison. I see, however, that I am not worthy of such a grace. 84
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, (the Cure of Ars)
Your temptations are from the devil and from Hell; but your sufferings and afflictions are from God and Heaven. 85
St. Padre Pio
On the Way of the Cross, you see, my children, only the first step is painful. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses. . . We have not the courage to carry our cross, and we are very much mistaken; for, whatever we do, the cross holds us tight -- we cannot escape from it. What, then, have we to lose? Why not love our crosses, and make use of them to take us to heaven? 86
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
Admire the goodness of the Creator, who causes the one to suffer in order to free the other. 87
St. Lydwine of Schiedam
This is the mark of Christianity--however much a man toils, and however many righteousnesses he performs, to feel that he has done nothing, and in fasting to say, "This is not fasting," and in praying, "This is not prayer," and in perseverance at prayer, "I have shown no perseverance; I am only just beginning to practice and to take pains"; and even if he is righteous before God, he should say, "I am not righteous, not I; I do not take pains, but only make a beginning every day." 88
St. Macarius the Great
There is no affliction, trial, or labor difficult to endure, when we consider the torments and sufferings which Our Lord Jesus Christ endured for us. 89
St. Teresa of Jesus
God, to procure His glory, sometimes permits that we should be dishonored and persecuted without reason. He wishes thereby to render us conformable to His Son, who was calumniated and treated as a seducer, as an ambitious man, and as one possessed. 90
St. Vincent de Paul
The brightest ornaments in the crown of the blessed in heaven are the sufferings which they have borne patiently on earth. 91
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
After knowing the will of God in regard to a work which we undertake, we should continue courageously, however difficult it may be. We should follow it to the end with as much constancy as the obstacles we encounter are great. 92
St. Vincent de Paul
It would be the greatest delight of the seraphs to pile up sand on the seashore or to pull weeds in a garden for all eternity, if they found out such was God's will. Our Lord himself teaches us to ask to do the will of God on earth as the saints do it in heaven: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 93
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
There is a story to this effect in the "Lives of the Fathers" about a farmer whose crops were more plentiful than those of his neighbors. On being asked how this happened with such unvarying regularity, he said he was not surprised because he always had the kind of weather he wanted. He was asked to explain. He said: "It is so because I want whatever kind of weather God wants, and because I do, he gives me the harvests I want." If souls resigned to God's will are humiliated, says Salvian, they want to be humiliated; if they are poor, they want to be poor; in short, whatever happens is acceptable to them, hence they are truly at peace in this life. In cold and heat, in rain and wind, the soul united to God says: "I want it to be warm, to be cold, windy, to rain, because God wills it." 94
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Oh, how I like those little mortifications that are seen by nobody, such as rising a quarter of an hour sooner, rising for a little while in the night to pray! 95
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
There is nothing more pleasing to God, than to see a soul who patiently and serenely bears whatever crosses it is sent; this is how love is made, by putting lover and loved one on the same level. . . A soul who loves Jesus Christ desires to be treated the way Christ was treated--desires to be poor, despised and humiliated. 96
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
All those who belong to Jesus Christ are fastened with Him to the cross. 97
St. Augustine
Know for a certainty that if men understood how terrible is even one solitary sin, they would rather be cast into a heated furnace, and there remain, living both in soul and body, than to support such a sight. And if the sea were all fire they would cast themselves therein and never leave it, if they were certain of meeting the sin on doing so. 98
St. Catherine of Genoa
How about the sin, then, of a husband and wife, of a brother and sister, who spew out all sorts of blasphemies upon one another? They would tear out one another's eyes if they could, or even take away each other's lives. . . They do not appreciate what they are saying. Alas! Unhappy people, your curses take effect more often than you think. . . But what should we do then? This is what we should do. We should make use of all the annoyances that happen to us to remind ourselves that since we are in revolt against God, it is but just that other creatures should revolt against us. We should never give others occasion to curse us. . . If something irritating or troublesome happens, instead of loading with curses whatever is not going the way we want it, it would be just as easy and a great deal more beneficial for us to say: "God bless it!" 99
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
Oh my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value. 100
St. Teresa of Jesus
Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, "let us die for the holy laws of our fathers," so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them. 101
St. Boniface
We must have a real living determination to reach holiness. ''I will be a saint'' means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, and make make myself a willing slave to the will of God. 102
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds. 103
St. Teresa of Avila
In accordance with divine providence, the devil was not sent at once to the Gehenna assigned to him, but his sentence was postponed in order to let him test and try men's free will. In this way, he unintentionally fosters greater maturity and righteousness in the saints by promoting their patient endurance, and so is the cause of their greater glory; and, at the same time, through his malevolence and his scheming against the saints he justifies more fully his own punishment. In this way, too, sin becomes more utterly sinful, as St. Paul puts it. (cf. Rom. 7:13) 104
St. Symeon Metaphrastis
Thank God I am deemed worthy to be hated by the world. 105
St. Jerome
I protest to everyone that I die for God willingly, if only you do not hinder me. I implore you, do not proffer me an unseasonable kindness. Let the wild beasts have me, for through them my way to God lies open. I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread of Christ. Rather, entice the wild animals that they may become my tomb, and leave nothing at all of my body. Thus when I sleep in death I shall burden no one. Then shall I be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ when the world cannot see even my body. Beseech the Lord on my behalf, that through these instruments I may be found a sacrifice to God... May the beasts prepared for me by my joy! And I pray that they will make short work of me. I will coax them with flattery to devour me without delay, and not treat me as some others whom they have been afraid to touch. But if they should be reluctant and unwilling, I will compel them by force." 106
St. Ignatius of Antioch (martyr, 107 A.D.)
Now do I begin to be a disciple of Christ, and care for nothing in this world, that so I may find Jesus. Let fire, or the cross, or wild beasts, or the breaking of my bones, or the cutting of me to pieces, or the shattering of my whole body, yea, all the tortures of the devil - let them all come upon me, only let me enjoy my God." 107
St. Ignatius of Antioch
This is the great work of a man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God, and toexpect temptation to his last breath. 108
St. Anthony the Great
A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, theywill attack him, saying, "You are mad; you are not like us. 109
St. Anthony the Great
One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much, more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer. 110
St. Teresa of Avila
Remember, child, that one who truly loves Jesus speaks little and endures much. I command thee on the part of Jesus, never to give thy opinion unless it is asked; never to maintain thy opinion, but be silent at once. When thou hast committed any fault, accuse thyself of it at once without waiting for others to do so …. Remember to guard thine eyes and reflect that the mortified eye shall behold the beauties of Heaven." 111
(The guardian angel of St. Gemma Galgani, asking her to write these words as he said them to her.)
On the Way of the Cross, you see, my children, only the first step is painful. Our greatest cross is the fear of crosses. . . We have not the courage to carry our cross, and we are very much mistaken; for, whatever we do, the cross holds us tight -- we cannot escape from it. What, then, have we to lose? Why not love our crosses, and make use of them to take us to heaven? 112
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney
Let us consider what the glorious Virgin endured, and what the holy apostles suffered, and we shall find that they who were nearest to Jesus Christ were the most afflicted. 113
St. Teresa of Jesus
We cannot get to Heaven on a featherbed. 114
St. Thomas More
Whatever the course of our lives, we should receive them as the highest gift from the hand of God, in which equally reposed the power to do nothing whatsoever for us. Indeed, we should accept misfortune not only in thanks, but in infinite gratitude to Providence, which by such means, detaches us from an excessive love for Earthly things and elevates our minds to the celestial and divine. 115
Gallileo Galilei
O, my Jesus, I understand well that, just as illness is measured with a thermometer and a high fever tells us of the seriousness of the illness; so also, in the spiritual life, suffering is the thermometer which measures the love of God in a soul. 116
St. Faustina Kowalska
Even if Jesus lays on us some part of the Cross, He is there to help us bear it with self, sacrifice and love. 117
Blessed John XXIII
I wonder what the world would be like if there were not innocent people making reparation for us all? Today the Passion of Christ is being relived in the lives of those who suffer. To accept that suffering is a gift of God. Suffering is not a punishment. Jesus does not punish. Suffering is a sign--a sign that we have come so close to Jesus on the cross that he can kiss us, show us that he is in love with us by giving us an opportunity to share in his Passion. Suffering is not a punishment, nor a fruit of sin; it is a gift of God. He allows us to share in his suffering and to make up for the sins of the world. 625 Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Time is but a shadow, a dream; already God sees us in Glory and takes joy in our eternal beatitude. How this thought helps my soul. I understand then why he lets us suffer. 118
St. Therese of Lisieux
You can be sure you are a man of God if you suffer injustice gladly and in silence. 119
Blessed Josemaria Escriva
When I think of the happiness that is in store for me, every sorrow, every pain becomes dear to me. 120
St. Francis of Assisi
Know that the experience of pain is something so noble and precious that the Divine Word, who enjoyed the abundant riches of paradise, yet, because He was not clothed with this ornament of sorrow, came down from Heaven to seek it upon Earth. 121
St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
Suffering passes; to have suffered willingly remains eternally. 122
St. Therese of Lisieux
Say always, "My beloved Redeemer, how sweet it is to suffer for You." 123
St. Alphonsus Ligouri
Whoever from deep within her noble and zealous heart wishes to take up the cross, let her first take up the arms necessary for such battles; first is diligence; second, distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, memory of his Passion; fifth, memory of one's own death; sixth, memory of the glory of God; seventh and last, the authority of Holy Scripture following the example of Christ Jesus in the desert. 124
St. Catherine of Bologna
The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. 125
G.K. Chesterton
Jesus did not promise to take away our burdens. He promised to help us carry them. 126
Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. 127
St Francis de Sales
I am a sinner, and I consider myself very fortunate to suffer something for the name of Jesus Christ. 128
Blessed Joan Antidea Thouret
It is good to think about our having our citizenship in Heaven and the saints of Heaven as our fellow citizens...Then it is easier to bear the things that are on Earth. 129
St. Edith Stein
O Christ, I unite my sufferings to yours, my pains with your pains, as I look at your head crowned with thorns. 130
St Rafqa Al-Rayes
Oh, how everything that is suffered with love is healed again! 131
St. Teresa of Avila
The angels and the saints rejoice at the sight of men on earth who struggle, suffer and labor for the love of Christ. 132
Blessed Rafel Arnaiz Baron
Misfortune is never mournful to the soul that accepts it; for such do always see that in every cloud is an angel's face. 133
St. Jerome
We must love Christ and always seek Christ's embraces. Then everything difficult will seem easy. 134
St. Jerome
The morrow of this day will be eternity; then Jesus will return you a hundred fold the lovely, rightful joys that you are sacrificing for him. 135
St. Therese of Lisieux
During painful times, when you feel a terrible void, think how the capacity of your soul is being enlarged so that it can receive God-- becoming as it were, infinite as God is infinite. 136
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Earth hath no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. 137
St. Thomas Moore
Only one principle will give you courage, that is the principle that no evil lasts for ever, nor indeed for very long. 138
St. Epicuris
In spite of this trial, which takes all enjoyment from me, I can never the less, cry out, 'Lord, you fill me with joy in all that you do. For is there a joy greater than to suffer for love?' 139
St. Therese of Liseux
Patience obtains everything. 140
St. Teresa of Avila
Teach us, Good Lord, to give and not count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do thy will. 141
St Ignatius of Loyola
Don't be afraid to be lonely. Loneliness teaches us what we lack--and what we don't. Loneliness is a short course in personal development. 142
Sister Joan Chittister, OSB
When we are expecting only suffering, the least joy surprises us: Suffering itself becomes the greatest of joys when we seek it as a precious treasure. 143
St. Therese of Liseux
Your tears were collected by the angels and were placed in a golden chalice, and you will find them when you present yourself before God. 144
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
When pain and suffering, humiliation and fear take us down into the deepest parts of the self, resurrection is only one thought away. 145
Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B.
I thank God for this illness and these physical discomforts, because I have the time to converse with the Lord Jesus. 146
St. Faustina Kowalska
Look upon yourself as a tree planted beside the water, which bears its fruit in due season; the more it is shaken by the wind, the deeper it strikes its roots into the ground. 147
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
The Cross will not crush you; if its weight makes you stagger, its power will also sustain you. 148
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
It is my weakness that gives me all my strength. 149
St Therese of Liseux
If there be anywhere on Earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it. But in falling and rising again, we are always kept in that same precious love. 150
St. Julian of Norwich
Every part of the journey is of importance to the whole. 151
St. Teresa of Avila
When we do something we dislike, let us say to God, "My God, I offer You this in honor of the moment when You died for me." 152
St. John Vianney
The greatest honor God can do a soul is not give it much; but to ask much of it. 153
St Therese of Liseux
Can you expect to go to Heaven for nothing? Did not our dear Savior track the whole way to it with His Blood and tears? 154
St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton
The heart of Christ can be seen through the openings of his wounds. For what can prove to me so clearly as your wounds that you, O Lord Jesus, are sweet & mild & plenteous in mercy. 155
St. Bernard
