Saintly Sayings - Filed under 'Union'

December 31, 2011

Union: December 31

(same as December 30)

Oh, what remorse we will have at the end of our lives on considering the great number of examples given us by God and the saints for our perfection – examples so neglected by us! If today marked the end of your life, would you be satisfied with the way you have lived this year?

– St. Francis de Sales

Thomas à Kempis relates that a pious soul once became greatly upset and worried about his final perseverance. Prostrating himself before the altar, he prayed: "Oh if I only knew that I would persevere in good will to the end!" At that he heard an interior voice replying: "And if you knew it, what would you do? Do now what you will wish to have done at the end of your life, and you will feel secure."

It is related in the lives of the Fathers that once when an elderly monk was asked what he had done to acquire perfection, he replied, "The moment I left the world I said to myself: 'Today you have been born again; today you are beginning to serve God and to live in this holy place. Daily being life anew as though the next day were to be your last.' This is exactly what I have done every day."

Filed under // December Union

December 30, 2011

Union: December 30

Oh, what remorse we will have at the end of our lives on considering the great number of examples given us by God and the saints for our perfection – examples so neglected by us! If today marked the end of your life, would you be satisfied with the way you have lived this year?

– St. Francis de Sales

Thomas à Kempis relates that a pious soul once became greatly upset and worried about his final perseverance. Prostrating himself before the altar, he prayed: "Oh if I only knew that I would persevere in good will to the end!" At that he heard an interior voice replying: "And if you knew it, what would you do? Do now what you will wish to have done at the end of your life, and you will feel secure."

It is related in the lives of the Fathers that once when an elderly monk was asked what he had done to acquire perfection, he replied, "The moment I left the world I said to myself: 'Today you have been born again; today you are beginning to serve God and to live in this holy place. Daily being life anew as though the next day were to be your last.' This is exactly what I have done every day."

Filed under // December Union

December 29, 2011

Union: December 29

To acquire perfection in general and all the virtues in particular to the point of attaining union with God, we need to keep a model before our eyes to serve as our guiding rule in all actions and attempts to progress. Now, beyond any doubt, no more perfect or surer exemplar could we take than the one God Himself gave us in the person of His divine Son. Blessed is he who imitates Him best!

– St. Vincent de Paul

The habitual, constant practice of this saint was precisely that of governing himself in all his affairs according to the examples and teachings of our Savior, which he ever kept before his eyes so as to imitate Him in everything. Every time he had to make a decision, give advice or make some recommendation, he would at once consult the life and teachings of Christ for confirmation of his view. Seldom did he speak without mentioning something about the Son of God or referring to one of His teachings. His applications of them, moreover, were so apt that they made a great impression on his hearers. And when nothing regarding a particular matter came to his mind, he would say to himself, "What would Christ say, what would He do in this situation?" Then he would take the course of action it seemed to him Christ would have taken.

Filed under // December Union

December 28, 2011

Union: December 28

To attain to divine union, all the troubles God sends us are required. By means of these, He wipes out all our lower inclinations. Hence, all the insults, injuries, contempt, infirmities, abandonment by relatives and friends, embarrassments, temptations of the devil and other events distasteful to our human nature – all are extremely necessary so that we will fight until we have extinguished our evil inclinations. Until our troubles no longer seem bitter but rather, sweet for love of God, we will never reach divine union.

– St. Catherine of Genoa

"That this is so," says the same Saint, "I know by experience. When Divine Love sees how tightly we cling to what we have chosen to love, because to us it appears beautiful, good and right, and blinded by our self-love, we will not hear a word to the contrary, He takes away everything to which we have given our heart. Hence we reach the point of not knowing what to do with ourselves, since we have been torn from those things in which we took delight and are experiencing only suffering and confusion. And not knowing why God permits these things, which seem unreasonable, we become irritated and go about moaning and trying our best to find relief from so much anxiety. When Divine Love has kept the soul in this state of suspense for some time, almost despairing and now annoyed by all that it formerly loved, He suddenly reveals Himself, His divine countenance resplendent and lovable to behold."

St. Elizabeth, daughter of the King of Hungary, was widowed while still young. Her property and money were taken from her, she was put out of her own home, abandoned by everyone and made to suffer from slander, affronts and insults. All this she suffered very patiently for the love of God. He in turn amply rewarded her for everything with wondrous spiritual gifts.

Filed under // December Union

December 27, 2011

Union: December 27

Our own will, as God tells us through His Prophet, is what spoils and corrupts all our devotions, labors and penances. Hence, not to waste time and energy, we must see to it that we never act out of natural reasons, self-interests, our own inclinations, moods, or whims, but always solely to carry out the will of God. We must become accustomed to doing so in all things, for it is the way, the only way, in fact, to reach divine union quickly and surely.

– St. Vincent de Paul

It was St. Vincent de Paul's sole concern not to undertake anything to which he was not clearly directed by the will of God. His humility always made him distrust the inspirations he personally received and fear self-deception.

St. Catherine of Genoa well understood the importance of doing God's will in order to attain to divine union. She once said, "There is not greater disease than self-will. It is so subtle and innate, it hides itself in so many ways and defends itself with so many arguments that it seems a real devil. When it cannot reach its goal one way, it finds another under various pretexts, such as for sanctity, necessity, charity, justice, or to suffer for God, to enjoy some spiritual consolation, to give good example, to condescend to others. I see in this self-will an abyss of malice, so ruinous and so opposed to God that only He can free us from it."

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December 26, 2011

Union: December 26

When I see certain souls very diligent and attentive in prayer, their heads bowed, evidently afraid to move even the slightest bit or let their thoughts waver for a moment lest they lose anything of the sensible delight and devotion they have experienced, I realize how little they understand the way to achieve union. They think that their whole care must be to concentrate on nothing but this. No, no! God wants deeds. When you are given something to do for obedience or charity towards your neighbor, do not worry about losing that devotion, that thought and enjoyment of God. Giving Him pleasure by doing these other things will lead you much faster to that holy union.

– St. Teresa of Avila

When St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi was a novice, she sometimes had her Novice Mistress' permission to retire to pray while her companions performed various types of manual labor. She, however, never took advantage of these permissions, declaring that she preferred to be busy about some work in obedience, even if menial and tiring, than in even the highest level of contemplation. When asked why, she replied: "Because by performing the duties of religious life and obedience, I am sure of doing the will of God, while I am not sure of doing so when I pray or do some other work, no matter how good and holy, but of my own choosing."

Filed under // December Union

December 25, 2011

Union: December 25

Be resolved to remain in the presence of God by means of a complete divesting of self and surrender to His holy will. Each time you find your spirit straying from this previous company, bring it back gently. This love consisting of simple confidence and the repose of the spirit on the Paternal bosom of Divine Goodness contains all that one could desire to please God.

– St. Francis de Sales

This was one of St. Jane Frances de Chantal's most treasured and most frequent practices. She did it by simply turning to God and adhering to His will, reposing in it like a child in his mother's arms. She made no attempt do do anything else or to find out what God was working in her.

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December 24, 2011

Union: December 24

If you ardently desire union with God, let your way of life be as interior as possible. Do not be such an extrovert as to reveal yourself by word or gesture or action. Try to be recollected within yourself and attentive to God alone, Who is present to you. Exclude from your heart all that you see and hear.

– Blessed Henry Suso

At one time Father Alvarez was noticed to be deep in thought for a number of days. When asked what was wrong, he replied: "I am trying to determine a way of living as though I were in the wilds of Africa and of keeping my heart as detached from creatures as though I really were in the wilderness."

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December 23, 2011

Union: December 23

To attain to perfect union with God, perfect, total mortification of the senses and the appetites is strictly required. The best and the shortest way to achieve this mortification of the senses is to reject at once whatever pleasure offers itself that is not purely for the glory of God, and to do this for love of Jesus Christ, Who never took any pleasure or wanted any in this world except the joy of doing His Father's Will.

– St. John of the Cross

Such precisely, was the life of this Saint: an uninterrupted practice of internal and external mortification, which he never considered enough. Hence he achieved a great union with God.

St. Francis Borgia frequently begged Our Lord to make all the comforts of this life distasteful to him and he himself did his best to make them so. He greatly desired, attentively sought and happily embraced all that was disagreeable to self-love with regard to food, dress, and home. By so doing, he greatly progressed in virtue and holy union.

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December 22, 2011

Union: December 22

The reason we never reach sanctity, despite the many communions we receive, is that we do not let God reign in us as He yearns. He comes to us and finds our hearts full of desires, affections and little vanities. This is not what He wants. He would like to find them completely empty so that He could rule as the absolute Sovereign there.

– St. Francis de Sales

St. Louis Gonzaga would center his whole week around the reception of Holy Communion. In preparation he offered all his actions of the three days preceding and, in thanksgiving, those of the last three days.

Filed under // December Union

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