Saintly Sayings

and Examples of Saints 
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January 23, 2012
 

Perfection: January 23

When one is truly advancing towards perfection, he feels within himself a constant urge to progress and improve. Because the more grace of enlightenment he receives, the more he realizes how much he is still lacking in virtue and good works. On the other hand, if he does realize that he is doing a little good, he feels it is very imperfect and does not give it much credit. Hence he continuously works for perfection without slacking in pace.
– St. Lawrence Justinian

St. Fulgentius loved perfection so much that no matter how much he worked for it, it always seemed so little and always he desired to be more perfect.

Daily St. Ignatius of Loyola would compare his victories with those of the previous day, and thus he advanced daily, always with a greater desire for progress so as to reach the height of perfection which Our Lord desired of him.

St. James the Apostle is highly praised because daily he advanced in the service of God.

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January 22, 2012
 

Perfection: January 22

The two feet with which one walks towards perfection are mortification and the love of God. The first is the left foot, the latter is the right.

St. Francis of Assisi rose to great heights of perfection with these two means. He led such an austere and rigorous life that when he was dying he had to apologize to his body for mistreating it so much. Because of his love of God, he acquired not only for himself but also for his Order the beautiful title of "seraphic".

When St. Francis de Sales wanted to prepare someone to live a truly Christian life and to abandon his worldly ways, he seldom spoke of exterior things, such as the hair, dress or some such thing. Rather, he spoke only to the heart and of the heart. He knew that once this fortress is overcome, all the rest will surrender and that when true love of God takes possession of the heart, all those things which are not of God will lose importance.

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January 21, 2012
 

Perfection: January 21

Humility and charity are the two main parts of the spiritual edifice. One is the lowest and the other the highest and all the others depend on them. Hence, we must keep ourselves well founded in these two, because the preservation of the entire edifice depends on the foundation and the roof.
– St. Francis de Sales

There never was and there never will be a saint without these two very necessary virtues; in fact, there have been some who, to our eyes, seem to have excelled in these virtues in a special way. One of these was St. Francis of Paula who, for his great humility, not content to be looked upon as the least among all men, willed that his Religious Congregation be given that same title.

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January 20, 2012
 

Perfection: January 20

Set yourselves seriously to work for the acquisition of virtue; otherwise your spiritual growth will be stunted. Neither should you think that you have acquired a virtue if you have not been tried by its opposite and have not had the occasion to faithfully practice it. Therefore, you should never flee the occasions to practice it, but rather desire them, seek them and willingly embrace them.
– St. Teresa of Avila

St. Vincent de Paul was not satisfied, as many are, to know an love virtues; he tried his best to exercise them. His maxim was that fatigue and patience are the best means to acquire virtues and plant them in our heart, because the virtues acquired without fatigue and trials also can be lost easily, while those acquired by combatting storms of temptations and practiced in spite of difficulties and repugnance of nature will take deep roots in one's heart.

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January 19, 2012
 

Perfection: January 19

Never let pass a single occasion of merit from which you can gain some spiritual profit as, for example, some harsh little word someone might say, an obedience asked of you against your will, a chance to humiliate yourself, to practice charity, meekness and patience. All these occasions are profitable to you and you yourself should look for them. And you should go to sleep quite content on the day you have had more occasions of merit, jus as the businessman does when he has had the opportunity of realizing a profit, for on that day business went well for him.
– St. Ignatius of Loyola

As we read in the life of St. John Berchmans, this was one of his principal maxims. He did his utmost not to let slip any occasion of merit for himself, no matter how small. Hence he went about seeking such occasions, and when some came through someone's indiscretion, he embrace them all with courage and joy of heart, without considering the indiscretion and little virtue of the others, but solely attending to his own humility.

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January 18, 2012
 

Perfection: January 18

If you really want to become perfect, you must firmly hold to the counsel of the Apostle: Attend to yourself, which implies two things. The first is not to look at the affairs of others nor at their defects. For the one who wishes to do his duty well and correct his own faults certainly has enough to do. The second is to strive for your own perfection and work incessantly for it, without worrying whether or not the others are doing so.
– Abbot Pastore

St. John Berchmans was an outstanding example in this regard. From the first day of his religious life, St. John Berchmans resolved that he would tend only and always to his own affairs. To this he dedicated all his life with such solicitude, that he never had time to look at the affairs of the others or to notice their defects. Hence he never stopped to reflect why others did or said this or that, or whether they acted well or not. Nor did he ever take it upon himself to defend one at the risk of offending others. He just quietly let each one think of himself and take care of his own affairs. As for the defects of the others, he took no notice of them even when committed before his eyes. For this reason it can be said that he never was able to point out the defects in the others. All he worried about was to correct his defects and to do his duties well. Therefore, in order to keep his soul free from defects, he used extraordinary diligence. Alhtough he had a great love for studies, he never let his studies interfere with his spiritual exercises, acts of charity or obedience; he never sought to satisfy his desires but to gain as many merits as possible.

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January 17, 2012
 

Perfection: January 17

Lord, what wilt Thou have me do? Behold the true sign of a totally perfect soul: when one has reached the point of giving up his will so completely that he no longer seeks, expects or desires to do ought but that which God wills.
– St. Bernard of Clairvaux

These were St. Paul's first words as soon as he came to know Jesus: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?" He said these words with such sincere affection and such submission of his will, that from then on he had no other desire than to fulfill the divine will. Neither did he ever vacillate in his constancy and fidelity, regardless of how many adversities, sufferings or trials he encountered.

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January 16, 2012
 

Perfection: January 16

It is not as necessary to strive for great favors as it is to gain virtue, for the one who makes mortifications and, with humility and purity of conscience, serves the Lord is the one who, without doubt, will be the greatest saint.
– St. Teresa of Avila

Rufino d'Aquileia narrates that one day, while praying, St. Macarius, who thought he had progressed quite well in virtue, heard an interior voice say: "Marcarius, know that you have not yet reached the virtue which is found in those two women who live in that city." Macarius went to visit those two women. After questioning and examining them, he found them to be quite advanced in virtue; for, although they had lived together for fifteen years, they had never disagreed either in words or in actions. Surprised, St. Macarius confessed that those two women were holier than he, even though head had received so many and such extraordinary graces.

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January 15, 2012
 

Perfection: January 15

I see two common mistakes among spiritual persons. The first is that they measure their devotions by the consolations and satisfactions that they experience in the service of God; so much so, that if these are lacking at times, they feel that they have lost all their piety. No, this is nothing but a sensible devotion. The true and substantial devotion does not consist in these things, but in having a will that is resolute, active, prompt and constant in not offending God and in fulfilling all that which appertains to His service. The second mistake is that if they should ever do something with repugnance or weariness, they feel that they have not gained any merit. On the contrary they have gained greater merit, for a single ounce of good performed with weariness and without satisfaction while the soul is undergoing a period of spiritual darkness, is worth more than one hundred pounds of good done with pleasure and satisfaction, because the first was performed with a stronger and purer love than the latter. Hence, no matter how much aridity and repugnance the sensitive part of us may feel, we must not lose courage but continue along our way.
– St. Francis de Sales

In order to prevent his penitents from falling into the first mistake, St. Philip Neri used to tell them that in the spiritual life there are three degrees or stages. The first is called animal life and is of those who in their devotions seeks sensible consolations. These consolations are given by God to beginners so that, attracted by the delight derived from the sensible pleasure, they will give themselves to the spiritual life. The second is called the life of man, and is of those who, deprived of sensible sweetness, combat their passions for the acquisition of virtue. The third is called life of the angels. This life is reached by those who, having fought for a long time to overcome their passions, receive from God a tranquil, quiet and almost angelic life even in this world.

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January 14, 2012
 

Perfection: January 14

The trouble with us is that we want to serve God in our own way and not in His, and according to our own will, not His. When He permits that we be ill, we want to be well; when He wills that we serve Him in sufferings, we desire to serve Him with works; when He wants us to exercise charity, we want to exercise humility; when He wants resignation from us, we want devotion, piety or some other virtue. And this, not because the things we want are more pleasing to Him, but because they give us greater satisfaction. This, undoubtedly, is the greatest impediment to our perfection  because if we want to become saints according to our will we will never become saints. In order really to become a saint it is best to do so according to God's will.
– St. Francis de Sales

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi well understood the great importance of this truth. With it as a sure guide, she submitted her will to that of God in such a manner that she was always happy, no matter what happened. She never desired anything contrary to the will of God. To ask God any graces for herself or for others with insistence was deemed by her a great defect; she said it was better to ask for graces with simple prayers and that she gloried and took pleasure in doing God's will rather than her own. Furthermore, she even desired to acquire the degree of sanctity God wanted of her rather than the degree she might want. Hence she wrote this resolution: "I will to offer myself to God, to want all and only that perfection which He wishes me to acquire and in the way and time He wishes and in no other way." Once, while confiding to one of her Sisters she said: "The good that does not come to me by way of the will of God, does not seem good, and I would prefer not to have any gift but that of leaving all my will and desires in God, rather than to have a gift which I desire or will."

Filed under  //   January   Perfection