I OFTEN think that when we come to adore Our Lord in the

Blessed Sacrament, we should obtain everything we want, if we

would ask for it with a very lively faith and a very pure heart.

-  Catechism on Prayer (M.)

ST. MAURUS instantly left his work to answer the call his

Superior, St. Benedict.  The other monks all had something

to finish first.

-  On Self-Denial (Sp.)

WHERE are the Christians today who would be ready, I do not

say to give their lives for God, but even to put up with the least

unpleasantness or inconvenience rather than disobey Him?

-  On Hearing Mass on Sundays (E.)

THE Heart of Jesus is infinetely good and loves each one of us,

who ever we are.  But we must have confidence in Him.  There is

a certain kind of fear which displeases Him.

-  On the Lord's Prayer (C.)

THE devil writes down our sins - our Guardian Angel all our

merits.  Labor that the Guardian Angel's book may be full, and

the devil's empty.

-  Catechism on Sin (M.)

WE ought in the morning on awaking to offer to God our heart,

our mind, our thoughts, our words, our actions, our whole selves,

to serve for His glory alone.

-  On the Joys of the Interior Life (Sp.)

DO you know why Our Lord persists in remaining day and night

in our churches? . . .  He stays there so that every time we want to

go and see Him, we may be able to find HIm.

YOU wonder why God, who is goodness Itself, allows us to suffer . . . .

But, what would you think of a doctor who lost his patient because he

was afraid to give him the necessary but unpleasant treatment?

TO be loved by God, to be united to God, to live in the Presence of God,

to live for God!  Oh! how wonderful like is -- and death!

WITH God's help we shall always have power over our emotions.

WHEN his mother recognized St. Alexis in the lifeless body of the

beggar who had lived for thirty years under her palace stairway,

she cried:  "Oh!  that I should have known you so late!"  . . . The

soul after this life will see at last Him whom she has possessed

in the Eucharist . . . .

WE should be able to suffer for Him who

vouchsafed to suffer for us.

ONE must do all one can for everybody,

expecting no return save from God only.

NOTHING is more unworthy of a Christian, whose

life should be an imitation of a God who is the soul

of Honor and Truth itself, than to think one thing

and say another.

IF God took the name of Father, it was to inspire

us with a greater confidence in Him.

GOD makes greater speed to pardon a penitent sinner

than a mother to snatch her child out of the fire.

HE to whom all power has been given has not yet lost it.

AN undertaking to be pleasing to God must have three

conditions:  It must be sincere, selfless and persevering.

THE martyrs would not have been martyrs if they had not

refused to disobey the commandments of God.

We ought to love the Blessed Virgin very much.

WHAT joy it is to know that when we go out of the house,

we are never alone en route.

ALL Jesus Christ did, He did for us.  His prayers, His tears,

His watchings, His fasting, His preaching, His journeys,

His conversations, His  miracles - - all those were for us.

I OFTEN think that the life of some poor employee who knows

no will but that of others may be - - if only she knows how to

profit by it - - quite as agreeable to God as that of a religious

who is always confronted with her rule.

We must take care not to get slack . . . We ought always

to be going from strength to strength . . . .

EVERY evening think over what you have done during the day,

and each month over the month, and each year over the year.

Thus you cannot fail to correct yourself and when death comes

you will be ready and happy to go to Heaven.

IT is only God that can fill the soul.

THE sun never hides his light for fear of inconveniencing the owls.

OUR Lord carried His Cross - - surely I can do as He did.

DO not distrust the Providence of God.  He who made your corn

to grow will assuredly help to gather it in.

WHEN we receive Holy Communion, we receive our joy and

our happiness.

WE must take great care never to do anything before having said

our Morning Prayers . . . . The devil once declared . . . that if he

could have the first moment of the day, he was sure of all the rest.

"GOD," said the Cure d'Ars, "has shown me this great mercy, that

He has given me nothing on which I could rely, neither talent, nor

wisdom, nor knowledge, nor strength, nor virtue.

"When tempted to despair I have only one resource:  to throw myself

at the foot of the Tabernacle like a little dog at the feet of his master."

TO possess God, that is the joy of joys.

AS the Disciples on Tabor saw Jesus only, so interior souls see

Our Lord alone in the Tabor of their heart.  They are two friends

who never grow tired of each other.

GOD only gave men ten Commandments, and one of the ten has

for its sole object the reverence due to His Name . . . . Yet is there

anything nowadays that is treated with less respect than the

Sacred Name?

IF I were to ask you if you loved God, you would tell me that

you did; but that is not enough.  You must prove it.

-  Sermon on the Love of God.

WHEN good thoughts come to us, it is a visit of God the Holy Ghost.

WE must never despise the poor, because that contempt is

reflected back upon God.

IF we are tempted to thoughts of envy against our neighbor,

far from letting him see it by our cold manner, we must go out

of our way to be friendly, and do him any service that lies in our power.

ST. COLETTE saw and spoke to Our Lord as we speak to each

other.  How often do we come to church without knowing what

we come to do, or what we wish to ask!

TO what outrages does Our Lord expose Himself in the Blessed

Sacrament that He may remain in the midst of us!  He is there to

console us, and therefore we ought often to visit Him.

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 . . . .

LET us live as the Blessed Virgin lived:  loving God only,

desiring God only, trying to please God only in all that we do.

THOSE who are led by the Holy Ghost experience all sorts of

happiness in themselves.

OUR home is -- Heaven.  On earth we are like travellers staying

at an hotel.  When one is away, one is always thinking of going home.

A GOOD Christian mounts a chariot in this world --- borne

by Angels and conducted by Our Lord.

NEVER pass a day without thanking Jesus Christ for all He

has done for you during your life.

IF you keep your thoughts fixed on Our Lord after Communion,

you will feel for a long time that consuming fire which will inspire

in your heart the desire for good and a shrinking from evil.

HE who does not pray is like a hen or a turkey that cannot rise

into the air.  He who prays is like an intrepid eagle!

THERE is hardly a day when we shall not be obliged to make

some sacrifice for God, if we do not want to displease Him

and if we want to love Him.

WE must always act in the way that will give most glory to God.

WHEN Our Lord sees pure souls coming eagerly to visit Him

in the Blessed Sacrament, He smiles upon them.  They come

with that simplicity which pleases Him so much.

THE Saints did not become Saints without many

a sacrifice and many a struggle.

WHEN we want to obtain anything of the good God, let us,

after Holy Communion, offer Him His well-beloved Son,

with all the merits of His Death and Passion; He will be able

to refuse us nothing.

DURING the harvest season the harvesters rise early and work

hard, but they do not complain, since it is a question of making

money.  Temptation is the season of spiritual harvest.

MAKE a note of the difference there is between believing in

the existence of God and believing in Him.

WE ought to have a charity like that of St. Augustine, who

rejoiced to see anyone very good:  "At least," he used to say,

"here is someone who will make amends to God for my want

of love."

HIS death was the price of one dance . . .

IT is in solitude that God speaks to us.

WE are each of us like a small mirror in which God

searches for His reflection.

-  On the Sin of Impurity (E.)

ONE sin cannot excuse another sin.

If we possessed a real penetrating faith like the Saints

we should see Our Lord like they did.

THOSE who love themselves with a love that seeks

themselves and the world -- that seeks creatures more

than God -- are never satisfied -- never quiet.  They are

always uneasy, always tormented, always upset.

YOU can pray by putting yourself quite simply in touch

with God.  When one finds nothing more to say to Him

but just knows He is there -- that in itself is the best of prayers.

WE must love while we suffer, and we must suffer if we love.

NOTHING is so contrary to charity as pride.

AT the hour of your death you will see that you have saved

more souls by your illness than by all the good works you

might have accomplished in health.

ON the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Our Lord places us on His

Heart.  Ah!  If we could remain there always!

SINCE we are only in the world for God Himself, we shall

never be happy if we do not serve Him with zeal and love.

EVERYONE is ready to run after the latest novelty, . . .

But as for Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, He is

deserted and forsaken . . . .

THE priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.  When

you see the priest, think of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

WHEN we have had the great misfortune to sin, the

adorable Blood of Jesus will ask for our forgiveness.

We must honor God as He requires us to honor Him, or

we shall be asked why.

TO love God with our whole mind is to think of Him often,

and to make it our principal study to know Him well.

GOD acts vigorously and gently; it is good to rely on Him.

OUR Lord takes pleasure in doing the will of those who love Him.

THE Saints did not all begin well, but they all ended well.

GOD is like a mother who carries her child in her arms by the

edge of a precipice.  While she is seeking all the time to keep

him from danger, he is doing his best to get into it.

THE Kingdom of God is within us when we love Him and are

in a state of grace.

TO receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily, one must have a

great desire for union with Jesus Christ.

GOD allowed the Blessed Virgin to be born in poverty,

to the end that her nativity should more closely resemble

that of her Divine Son, of whom the Prophets had foretold

that He would have no place to lay His head.

WHEN we pray, we should open our heart to God, like

a fish when it sees the wave coming.

ALAS!  If we put all our trust in God, how much happier we should be!

THE greatest Saints were those who suffered the most.

WHEN you awake in the night, transport yourself quickly in

spirit before the Tabernacle, saying:  "Behold me, my God, I come

to adore Thee, to praise, thank, and love Thee, and to keep Thee

company with all the Angels."

HE is hidden from our eyes under the humility of His Sacrament, to try our faith. . . .

WHEN two things are to be done, we may choose the one which is the least pleasant.

NEVER let your home he without a crucifix upon its walls,

to the end that all who enter it may know that you are a

disciple of a Crucified Lord, and that you are not ashamed to own it.

JESUS CHRIST, after having given us all He could give, that is

to say, the merit of His toils, His sufferings, and His bitter death;

after having given us His Adorable Body and Blood to be the Food

of our souls, willed also to give us the most precious thing

He had left, which was His holy Mother.

LOVE is the distinctive mark of those who belong to God,

as the mark of those who reject Him is hatred.

THERE is no great merit in doing good to one who is loving

and grateful to us in return.

OFFER your temptations for the conversion of sinners.

When the devil sees you doing this, he is beside himself

with rage and makes off, because then the temptation

is turned against himself.

WE are poor people who have been taught to beg

spiritually, and we do not beg.

WAS Jesus Christ afraid of being laughed at?

WE must watch over our mind, our heart and our senses,

for these are the gates by which the devil enters in.

TO love God with our whole strength is to employ our

possessions, our health, and our talents in serving Him

and glorifying Him.  It is to refer all our actions to Him

as our last end.

IT is God's Will that on Sunday's we should occupy ourselves

only with what has to do with His service and the salvation

of our soul.  By doing so, we draw down blessings on our

work during the week.

THOSE who love riches or pleasures offer God nothing but

the languid remains of a heart worn out in the service of the world.

"AT the beginning of the day, I endeavor to unite myself closely

with Jesus Christ, and then I do the next thing, with the thought

of this union in mind," confessed the Cure d'Ars to the Abbe Dufour.

"From which I infer," adds the Abbe, "that his life was one long prayer."

LOVE for our neighbor consists of three things:  To desire

the greater to good of everyone; to do what good we can

when we can; to bear, excuse and hide others' faults.

ONE's everyday life ought to be both a preparation and a

thanksgiving for Communion.  By one Communion you

give more glory to God than if you gave away one hundred

thousand francs.

WHEN we pray with attention and humility of mind and heart,

we quit the earth and rise to Heaven.  We reach the outstretched

arms of God.  We talk with the Angels and the Saints.

THE virtue of Obedience makes the will supple.  It gives the

power to conquer self, to overcome laziness, and to resist

temptations.  It inspires the courage with which to fulfill the

most difficult tasks.

IF I may make use of such an expression, I compare those who

serve sometimes God, sometimes the World, as the case may be,

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.

WHEN you think of going to Mass on working days, it is an

impulse of the grace that God wills to grand you.  Follow it.

THE first thing about the Angels that we ought to imitate, is their

consciousness of the Presence of God.

OH!  How easily we could win Heaven day by day just by doing

what we have to do - but by doing it for God! . . .

HOW beautiful it is, my children, to be accompanied by the Holy

Ghost!  He is indeed a good guide; and to think that there are

some who will not follow Him!

IT is good to abandon oneself unreservedly to the guidance of

Divine Providence.  Our reserves dry up the current of His

mercies, and our distrust stops the course of God's blessings.