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/ Holiness
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"Holiness
is the one only thing, when life is ended, that can be called a
true gain" (Liturgical Year)
"A
man is of very little worth who though excelling in dignity,
excels not in knowledge and holiness." (Pope St. Symmachus)
"Holiness
is simply to do God's will, always and everywhere." (St.
Vincent Pallotti)
"To
do God's will until death, that is the inner heart of all
holiness." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)
"To
obtain the gift of holiness is the work of a life."
(Cardinal Newman)
"I
hear a voice within me that persistently tells me, Be holy and
have a holy influence." [St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)]
"Holiness
is the most powerful force that leads human hearts to Christ." (Pope John Paul II)
"Have
you begun to stop trying to defend your sins? Then you have made a
beginning of righteousness." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the
Church)
"Sanctity
alone merits crowns that endure through all ages of time and for
all eternity; for God is the final awarder." (Liturgical
Year)
"A
soul's development never goes beyond the measure of her
faith." (Liturgical Year)
"God
desires the least degree of purity of conscience in you more than
all the works you can perform." (St. John of the Cross,
Doctor of the Church)
"God
desires the least degree of obedience more than all those services
you think of rendering Him." (St. John of the Cross, Doctor
of the Church)
"[B]efore
God heroic acts of hidden virtue are not inferior to the noble
deeds that dazzle the world, if, proceeding from the same ardent
love, they produce in the soul the same increase of divine
charity" (Liturgical Year)
"[H]e who does not want to master himself is not
able to do so, and he who wishes to master himself relying only
upon his own powers, without sincerely and perseveringly seeking
divine help, will be miserably deceived." (Pope Pius XII)
"For
the spirit of the flesh desires and is most eager to have words,
but [cares] little to carry them out. And it does not seek a
religion and holiness in the interior spirit, but it wishes and
desires to have a religion and holiness outwardly apparent to
people." (St. Francis of Assisi)
"Virtue
does not consist in making good resolutions, nor in saying fine
words, but in keeping one's resolutions and carrying out one's
good intentions." (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)
"As
a good gardener works from morning till night to destroy the weeds
in his garden and fill it with flowers, so let us work every day
to destroy the blemishes of our soul and adorn it with
virtues." (St. John Vianney)
"The
Holy Spirit is truly holy. No other is such, not in the same way;
for He is holy not by an acquiring of holiness but because He
Himself is Holiness; not more holy at one time and less holy
another time; for there is no beginning in time of His being holy,
nor will there ever be an end of it." (St. Gregory of Nazianz,
Doctor of the Church, circa 379 A.D.)
"Principalities and Powers and all the rest of the creatures of the same sort, who are shown by attention and study to have holiness, cannot be said to be holy of their very nature. Yearning to possess the good, they receive a measure of holiness in proportion to their love of God...the holiness that is in angels is their by reason of their participating in [His nature]." (St. Basil the Great,
Doctor of the Church, circa 364 A.D.)
"If
a person has true virtue, nothing whatever can change him; he is
like a rock in the midst of a tempestuous sea. If anyone scorns
you, or calumniates you, if someone mocks you or calls you a
hypocrite or a sanctimonious fraud, none of this will have the
least effect upon the peace of your soul. You will love him just
as much as you loved him when he was saying good things about you.
You will not fail to do him a good turn and to help him, even if
he speaks badly of your assistance." (St. John Vianney)
"A
man, who gives himself up entirely to exterior exercises without
looking seriously into his own heart to see what passes there,
imposes upon himself, imagining that he is something while he is
nothing. His eyes being always fixed on his exterior actions, he
flatters himself that he goes on well, and neither sees nor feels
the secret worm which gnaws and consumes his heart." (St.
Bernard)
"Pray
for us, that our piety may be that of the Gospel, and not the
fashionable piety which pleases the world, and makes us pleased
with ourselves." (Gueranger)
"If with some who know God, but do
not glorify God, that knowledge profits them nothing unto
salvation, how should those be able to be righteous before God,
who, though they have some goodness in their moral conduct and
actions, have goodness of such a kind that they cannot refer it to
the ends of Christian faith and love? Certainly such people can
possess a certain kind of goodness, which pertains to the justice
of human society, but because it is not the product of faith in
God and love of God, it is not able to assist them." (St. Fulgence of Ruspe, 6th century A.D.)
"Every
time we are able to give up our own wishes in favor of those of
other people, so long as it is not contrary to the will of God, we
acquire great merit." (St. John Vianney)
"The
best means of being reserved is to think frequently that God sees
you." (St. Vincent de Paul)
"If
you want to stay close to God, you must not be sullied by any of
the vices of this world." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the
Church)
"Blessed
are they who ardently crave sanctity, for their desire shall be
fulfilled." (St. Vincent Pallotti)
"...not
to be thought holy so much as to be holy" (St. Benedict)
"[S]anctity...ultimately
consists in the love of God" (Pope Leo XIII, "Divinum
Illud Munus", 1897)
"Sanctify
yourself and you will sanctify society." (St. Francis of
Assisi)
"It
becomes us not only to shun evil, but also to do good" (St.
Theophylact)
"We
must also avoid sin with fervor, and not coldly and quietly." (St. Theophylact)
"[W]hen
life is over there is no longer any opportunity for the improving
of piety." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"[O]ne
virtue without the other is either of no account whatever, or very
imperfect" (St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"[T]he
more peril there was in the battle, so much the more joy will
there be in the triumph." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the
Church)
"The
affections of the heart are more acceptable to God than external
acts." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"Now
turning away from evil is directed as a means to the gaining of
good." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"[I]t
is a small thing not to do evil, unless also men strive to labor
in good works" (St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Doctor of the
Church)
"The
virtues are connected and linked together, so that whoever has
one, is seen to have several" (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the
Church)
"There
is no order so holy, nor place so retired, where there are not
temptations and adversities." (Kempis)
"In
our actions we must always choose the most perfect." (St.
John Vianney)
"It
is always a sign of presumption to imagine ourselves able to
handle hot coals without burning ourselves." (Camus)
"Man
advances in the way to God, not merely by actual increase of
charity, but also by being disposed to that increase." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"Our
sanctification consists entirely in conformity to the will of
God." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)
"Of
no use are all the other fortifications, as long as there is one
place which the enemy has left defenseless." (St. Gregory of
Nazianzus, Doctor of the Church)
"We
ought to pray even for sinners, that they may be converted, and
for the just that they may persevere and advance in
holiness." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"For
as our sons after the flesh resemble their fathers in some part of
their bodily shape, so do spiritual sons resemble their father
God, in holiness." (Pseudo-Chrys, as quoted by St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)
"[N]ot
only what is known to be evil, but also everything which has the
appearance of evil, should be specially avoided by perfect
men." (Council of Vienne)
"To
stay and wither in their native sickly state, is the lot only of
those, who resist the Divine invitation and refuse to make a right
use of their liberty." (Pope Pius XI, "Ad Salutem", 1930)
"Holiness
begins from Christ; and Christ is its cause. For no act conducive
to salvation can be performed unless it proceeds from Him as from
its supernatural source." (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici
Corporis Christi", 1943)
"Faith,
hope and charity subject the mind to God, so that there can be
nothing excessive in them. It is different with external acts,
which sometimes have no connection with these virtues." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"But
the Lord allays the fears of carnal men, that no one trembling at
the consciousness of his guilt, or astonished at the innocence of
others, might be afraid to undertake the journey of
holiness." (St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor of the Church)
"For
holiness is, a proper observance of our duty towards God,
righteousness of our duty towards man; as, for example, when a man
devoutly performs the Divine commands, and lives honorably among
his fellow men." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
"The
whole object of Christian doctrine and morality is that 'we being
dead to sin, should live to justice' (I Peter ii., 24) - that is,
to virtue and holiness. In this consists the moral life, with the
certain hope of a happy eternity. (Pope Leo XIII, "Tametsi
Futura Prospicientibus", 1900)
"For
we fight: against spiritual wickedness in high places; but there
presses upon us a multitude also of other enemies, fleshly lust,
the law of sin raging in our members, and various passions, that
is, a dreadful multitude of enemies" (St. Cyril, Doctor of
the Church)
"Gregory...
says (Moralium xxii,1) that 'a virtue cannot be perfect' as a
virtue, 'if isolated from the others: for there can be no true
prudence without temperance, justice and fortitude': and he
continues to speak in like manner of the other virtues."
(St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest
theologian in the history of the Church")
"[I]t
requires a diligent and well ordered study on our part to be able
to know and praise our Redeemer ever more and more. It requires a
serious effort and constant practice to imitate His mysteries, to
enter willingly upon His path of sorrow and thus finally share His
glory and eternal happiness." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator
Dei", 1947)
"Imagine
thyself always to be the servant of all, and look upon all as if
they were Christ our Lord in person; and so shalt thou do Him
honor and reverence." (St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the
Church)
"Holiness
is intimacy with God; it is the imitation of Christ, who was poor,
chaste and humble; it is unreserved love for souls and a giving of
oneself on their behalf and for their true good; it is love for
the Church which is holy and wants us to be holy, because this is
the mission that Christ entrusted to her." (Pope John Paul
II)
"And
after their example we order our life, that as they living
together without evil, are prepared to welcome their Lord's return
(Lk. 12:37), so we also, keeping watch at the door, should make
ourselves ready to obey Him when He comes knocking; for it
follows, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him
immediately." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"Virtue
can be recovered by penance as regards that which is formal in
virtue, but not as to that which is material therein. For if a
magnificent man has squandered all his wealth he does not recover
his riches by repenting of his sin. In like manner a person who
has lost virginity by sin, recovers by repenting, not the matter
of virginity but the purpose of virginity." (St. Thomas
Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the
history of the Church")
"For
whosoever either departs from God's service before he dies, or by
any uncleanness stains either the strictness or purity of his
faith, or strives to be holy and righteous before men, and not
before God, does not yet serve the Lord in perfect freedom from
the hand of his spiritual enemies, but after the example of the
old Samaritans endeavors to serve equally the gods of the
Gentiles, and his Lord." (St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor of
the Church)
"How
can a truly virtuous man fail in anything? In what situation will
he not be powerful; in what state of poverty will he not be rich;
in what obscurity will he not be brilliant; in what inaction will
he not be industrious; in what infirmity will he not be vigorous;
in what weakness will he not be strong; in what solitude will he
not be accompanied? For he will have for company the hope of a
happy eternity; for clothing, he will have the grace of the Most
High; for ornament, the promises of a halo of glory!" (St.
Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)
"[P]rogress
in the Christian life does not consist in the multiplicity and
variety of prayers and exercises of piety, but rather in their
helpfulness towards spiritual progress of the faithful and
constant growth of the Church universal. For the eternal Father
'chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and unspotted in His sight.' All our prayers,
then, and all our religious practices should aim at directing our
spiritual energies towards attaining this most noble and lofty
end." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947)
"[C]harity
does not actually increase through every act of charity, but each
act of charity disposes to an increase of charity, in so far as
one act of charity makes man more ready to act again according to
charity, and this readiness increasing, man breaks out into an act
of more fervent love, and strives to advance in charity, and then
his charity increases actually... Every act of charity merits
everlasting life, which, however, is not to be bestowed then and
there, but at its proper time. In like manner every act of charity
merits an increase of charity; yet this increase does not take
place at once, but when we strive for that increase." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"If
only we encase ourselves in the armor of salvation against such a
conflict, once we begin to refrain from sinning, we shall little
by little blunt the edge of the enemy's attack and sap his
strength; until at length we shall wing our flight to that place
of repose, where triumph and boundless joy will be ours. The
credit of the victory is to be ascribed solely to the grace of
God, which within us gives light to the mind and strength to the
will, when we rise superior to so many hindrances and contests. It
is the grace of God, We say. For as He created us, so is He able,
through the treasures of His wisdom and power, to set aflame and
fill our hearts wholly with His love." (Pope Pius XI,
"Ad Salutem", 1930)
"[M]an
needs to exercise himself at the same time in the matters of all
moral virtues. And if he exercise himself, by good deeds, in all
such matters, he will acquire the habits of all the moral virtues.
But if he exercise himself by good deeds in regard to one matter,
but not in regard to another, for instance, by behaving well in
matters of anger, but not in matters of concupiscence; he will
indeed acquire a certain habit of restraining his anger; but this
habit will lack the nature of virtue, through the absence of
prudence, which is wanting in matters of concupiscence. In the
same way, natural inclinations fail to have the complete character
of virtue, if prudence be lacking." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")
"Now
there are three obstacles to our attainment of beatitude. First,
there is sin, which directly excludes a man from the kingdom,
according to 1 Corinthians 6:9,10, 'Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, etc., shall possess the kingdom of God'; and to this
refer the words, 'Forgive us our trespasses.' Secondly, there is
temptation which hinders us from keeping God's will, and to this
we refer when we say: 'And lead us not into temptation,' whereby
we do not ask not to be tempted, but not to be conquered by
temptation, which is to be led into temptation. Thirdly, there is
the present penal state which is a kind of obstacle to a
sufficiency of life, and to this we refer in the words, 'Deliver
us from evil" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"For
accusing ourselves in our confessions and refusing the spirit's
consent to our fleshly lusts, we stir up against us the enmity of
him who is the author of sin, but secure a peace with God that
nothing can destroy, by accepting His gracious service, in order
that we may not only surrender ourselves in obedience to our King
but also be united to Him by our free-will. For if we are
likeminded, if we wish what He wishes, and disapprove what He
disapproves, He will finish all our wants for us, He Who gave the
will, will also give the power: so that we may be fellow-workers
in His works, and with the exultation of Faith may utter that
prophetic song: 'the Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall
I fear? the Lord is the defender of my life: of whom shall I be
afraid?" (Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"Our
Lord having taught His disciples moderation, taking from them all
care and conceit of this life, now leads them on to serve and
obey, saying, Let your loins be girded, that is, always ready to
do the work of your Lord, and your lamps burning, that is, do not
lead a life in darkness, but have with you the light of reason,
showing you what to do and what to avoid. For this world is the
night, but they have their loins girded, who follow a practical or
active life. For such is the condition of servants who must have
with them also lamps burning; that is, the gift of discernment,
that the active man may be able to distinguish not only what he
ought to do, but in what way; otherwise men rush down the
precipice of pride. But we must observe, that He first orders our
loins to be girded, secondly, our lamps to be burning. For first
indeed comes action, then reflection, which is an enlightening of
the mind. Let us then strive to exercise the virtues, that we may
have two lamps burning, that is, the conception of the mind ever
shining forth in the soul, by which we are ourselves enlightened,
and learning, whereby we enlighten others." (St. Theophylact)
"The
service of God is not only our most important, but our sole work.
This is so obvious that it requires only to be stated. Time and
words would alike be wasted in the attempt to prove it. Yet, alas!
even spiritual persons need to be reminded of this elementary
truth. Let us subject ourselves to a brief examination upon it.
Are we thoroughly convinced it is true? Has our past life shown
proof of it? Is our present life modeled upon it? Are we taking
pains that our future life shall be so? What is the result when we
compare our worldly promptitude and industry with our preference
of the service of God over all other things? Are we in any way on
the lookout for His greater glory, or our own greater union with
Him? Is it plain at first sight that we have no object or pursuit
so engrossing and so decidedly paramount as the service of God?
The spirit in which we serve Him should be entirely without
reserve. Need I prove this? What is to be reserved? Can there be
reserves with God? Can His sovereignty be limited, or our love of
Him ever reach the measure of enough? But have we no reserve with
Him now? Is there really no corner of our heart over which He is
not absolute Lord? Does He ask of us freely what He wills, and do
we do our best to give Him all He asks? Have we no implicit
condition with Him that He is only so far with us and no further?
Is our outward life utterly and unconditionally dependent on Him?
And if it is, is the kingdom of our inward intentions reposing
peaceably beneath His unquestioned sceptre? It is of importance
not to allow ourselves to rest in any pursuit except the service
of God. By resting I mean feeling at home, reposing on what we do,
forgetting it is a mere means even when we do not err so far as to
mistake it for an end, being contented with what we are, not
pushing on, nor being conscious that we are fighting a battle and
climbing a hill. Nothing can excuse the neglect of the duties of
the position in life which God has conferred upon us. All is
delusive where these are not attended to and made much of. They
are, as it were, private sacraments to each one of us. They are
our chief, often our sole, way of becoming saints. But while we
perform them with all the peaceful diligence which the presence of
God inspires, we must jealously realize that they are means, not
ends, subordinate and subservient to the great work of our souls.
No amount of external work, not the unsleeping universal heroism
of a St. Vincent de Paul, can make up for the want of attention to
our own souls, such as resting in our external work would imply.
Hence we should be jealous of any great pleasure in our pursuits,
even when they are works of Christian mercy and love. It is always
a pleasure to do good, yet it must be watched, moderated, and kept
in check, or it will do us a mischief before we are aware. The
thought of eternity is a good help to this. It brings down the
pride of external work, and takes the brightness and color out of
our successes; and this is well, for such brightness and color are
nothing more than a reflection of ourselves and our own
activity." (Fr. Faber)
"God's
gifts whereby we are withdrawn from sin, are two: one is the
acknowledgment of the truth, against which there is the resistance
of the known truth, when, namely, a man resists the truth which he
has acknowledged, in order to sin more freely: while the other is
the assistance of inward grace, against which there is envy of a
brother's spiritual good, when, namely, a man is envious not only
of his brother's person, but also of the increase of Divine grace
in the world. On the part of sin, there are two things which may
withdraw man therefrom: one is the inordinateness and shamefulness
of the act, the consideration of which is wont to arouse man to
repentance for the sin he has committed, and against this there is
impenitence, not as denoting permanence in sin until death, in
which sense it was taken above (for thus it would not be a special
sin, but a circumstance of sin), but as denoting the purpose of
not repenting. The other thing is the smallness or brevity of the
good which is sought in sin, according to Romans 6:21: 'What fruit
had you therefore then in those things, of which you are now
ashamed?' The consideration of this is wont to prevent man's will
from being hardened in sin, and this is removed by obstinacy,
whereby man hardens his purpose by clinging to sin. Of these two
it is written (Jeremiah 8:6): 'There is none that doth penance for
his sin, saying: What have I done?' as regards the first; and,
'They are all turned to their own course, as a horse rushing to
the battle,' as regards the second." (St. Thomas Aquinas,
Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history
of the Church")
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