Nothing pleases the good God more than to see, on this earth, a heart that loves him, which is sincere with him, at every step along the path, with every smile, and also amid tears and the smallest of instantaneous pleasures.
Little Brother Marcel Văn CSsR (1928–1959)
Always I have this certainty: God is the solid rock, the fundament of my hope.
Little Brother Marcel Văn CSsR (1928–1959)
When shall we imitate more perfectly that dear Saviour who emptied himself? When shall we becomes so humble as to be “a reproach among men and an outcast among the people” [cf. Lk 1:25]? When shall we become like little babies clinging to the breast of Jesus, our Spouse, Father, and Protector? … When, oh when? Please ask the Lord to grant us this grace.
Saint Paul of the Cross
As long as faith gives me strength I will always be joyful; every Catholic cannot but be joyful: sadness ought to be banished from Catholic souls. Now, sorrow is not sadness, Sadness is a worse illness than others. This illness nearly always is caused by atheism [be it theoretical and of conviction or practical and by living]. But the purpose for which we have been created shows us the path; even if strewn with many thorns, it is not a sad path. It is joyful even in the face of sorrow.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901–1925)
Jesus, I accept it; yes, I accept this suffering by love for you.
Little Brother Marcel Văn CSsR (1928–1959)
The Apostle Saint Paul says, “The charity of Christ needs [compels] us” [2 Cor 5:14], and without this fire, which little by little must destroy our personality so that our heart beats only for the sorrows of others, we would not be Christians…
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901–1925)
The Visitation sketched by Charles de Foucauld
When I picture you, Mary, going, as in the Gospel, to a hill country of Judah, to perform an act of charity for your cousin Elizabeth—I see you as beautiful, serene, majestic, absorbed in contemplation of the Word of God within you.
Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity
One cannot go towards things other than in looking beyond them. That is the only way to make way towards the things that are bitter, just as it is the only way to make way towards those that are sweet.
Charles Cardinal Journet (1891–1975)
It is wonderful to be alive inasmuch as our true life is the life beyond; otherwise who could bear the burden of this life, if there were not a prize for suffering, an eternal joy; how could one explain the admirable resignation of so many por creatures who struggle with life and often die in the breach if it weren’t for the certainty of God’s Justice.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901–1925)
Always remember that God gives his graces according to the measure of our faith.
Little Brother Marcel Văn CSsR (1928–1959)
Contemplative in the Mud 