Dial-Thoughts of the Saintsâ
So, when are we going to start doing something good?”
St. Philip Neri

The saints are like a group of trees, each bearing different fruit, but watered from the same source. 
The practices of one saint differ from those of another, but it is the same spirit that works in all of them.

(Sayings of the Desert Fathers)

Index

01  September    Giles of Assisi

Grace does not wish to be praised.  And vice does not wish to be despised - that is, a man who has grace does not want to be praised and does not seek praise.  And the man who has vices does not want to be despised or blamed - which comes from pride.

02  September    Antonius

The prayers of the Blessed Virgin, being the prayers of God's mother, have in them something of a command.

03  September  Gregory the Great, pope

 The human mind is prone to pride even when not supported by power; how much more, then, does it exalt when it has that support.

When you discover that something has been of benefit to you, you want to tell others about it.  Apply this human behavior to the spiritual realm: when you go to God, do not go alone.

 04  September    Rose of Vitebo

Prayer reveals to souls the vanity of earthly goods and pleasures.  It fills them with light, strength and consolation; and gives them a foretaste of the calm bliss of our heavenly home.

08  September    Thomas of Villanova

As chickens when they see a hawk soaring above, run and find refuge under the wings of the hen, so are we preserved under the shadow of your wing, Mary.  And you, who are our lady and mother, have to defend us; for, after God, we have no other refuge than you, who are our only hope and our protectress; towards you we all turn our eyes with confidence.

09  September  Peter Claver

 To do the will of God, man must despise his own; the more he dies to himself, the more he will live to God.

 13  September    John Chrysostom

I do not despair of happier times, considering that at the helm of the universe is He who overcomes the storm not by human skill, but by His word.

15  September  Catherine of Genoa

If it were given a man to see virtue's reward in the next world, he would occupy his intellect, memory and will in nothing but good works with no regard of danger or fatigue.

 16  September    Cyprian of Carthage

No one is safe by his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God.

17  September    Robert Bellarmine

Preachers who are anxious to do their duty must not suffer themselves to be frightened away from wholesome teaching, merely because by delivering it they may make enemies among their flock.

18  September  Joseph of Cupertino

 My mother, Mary, is very strange; if I bring her flowers, she says she does not want them; if I bring her cherries, she will not take them, and if I then ask her what she desires, she replies: "I desire thy heart, for I live on hearts."

 21   September    Matthew, apostle

Jesus said, "For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct."

22  September  Thomas of Villanova

As chickens when they see a hawk soaring above, run and find refuge under the wings of the hen, so are we preserved under the shadow of your wing, Mary.  And you, who are our lady and mother, have to defend us; for, after God, we have no other refuge than you, who are our only hope and our protectress; towards you we all turn our eyes with confidence.

26   September    Nilus of Rossano

The spiritual combat in which we kill our passions to put on the new man is the most difficult struggle of all.  We must never weary of this combat, but fight the holy fight fervently and perseveringly.

27   September    Vincent de Paul

Distrust of our own capacity is the foundation for the right sort of confidence in God.

30  September   Jerome

What saint has ever won his crown without first fighting for it.

Surely if we remembered that God sees us when we sin, we should never do what displeases him.