Daily Inspiration- 365 Quotes From Saints

by Wyatt North

  “It is most certain that the malice of our own hearts is the principal cause that hinders us from attaining to our beatitude and everlasting happiness, because it makes us slow to godly actions, dull to virtuous exercises, and suggests a greater difficulty in them than there is, which if it were not a man might walk without any molestation in the way of virtue, and at length without labor attain to his desired end.”

  – St. Peter of Alcantara

  St. Peter of Alcantara led a life of great austerity and penitence from the moment he became a Franciscan Friar of the Stricter Observance at the young age of 16. His abilities were quickly recognized, and he was already superior of a new house before he was even ordained as a priest. It was a time of great Church reform, and Peter’s insistence on strict rules and demanding penance inspired many. In 1114, Peter established the Alcantarines, a group of Franciscans who followed the Rule of St. Francis even more rigorously than the Franciscan Friars of the Stricter Observance did. (Eventually, the Alcantarines merged with other Observant friars to become the Order of Friars Minor.) While serving as confessor and spiritual director to St. Theresa of Avila, Peter encouraged her efforts to bring reform to the Poor Clares.

  “Blissful penance, which has purchased for me so great a reward!”

  – St. Peter of Alcantara, to St. Teresa of Avila, appearing to her after his death

  Much of what is known about St. Peter of Alcantara comes from the writings of St. Teresa of Avila. She had other spiritual directors before Peter, but none seemed to understand her mystical experiences. She described his severe penitential practices, which she believed helped make him a “very holy and spiritual man.” He ate very little, sometimes going three days or even a week without food, and he slept only 90 minutes a night. Observers at the time who described his death noted that he prayed on his knees and refused water when it was offered to him, because Christ thirsted on the cross and Peter deserved no better. He was praying at the moment of his death in 1562. He was canonized in 1669.

  “To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be detached from all temporal love. We must love nothing but Him, or if we love anything else, we must love it only for His sake.”

  – St. Peter Claver

  Cartagena was one of two ports where slaves from Africa arrived to be sold in South America. Between the years 1616 and 1650, Peter Claver worked daily to minister to the needs of the 10,000 slaves who arrived each year. As each ship arrived with a cargo of slaves from Africa, Peter ministered to their physical and spiritual needs. Accompanied by a translator, he boarded the ship while the slaves were still imprisoned in the hold and gave them fresh fruit and other food donated by sympathetic Cartagenians. Once the slaves were locked up in holding pens in the city, Peter continued his work with them. With the help of his translator, he provided rudimentary medical care, taught the slaves the basics of Catholicism, and baptized as many of them as possible. He knew that slave owners would treat baptized slaves more humanely than non-Christian slaves, especially if Peter appealed to their conscience. During the off-season, when few ships made the crossing from Africa, Peter traveled from plantation to plantation, continuing to minister to the slaves and ensuring that they weren’t being mistreated. By the time he became sick and unable to carry on his work in 1651, Peter had baptized more than 300,000 slaves.

  “We must speak to them with our hands before we speak to them with our lips.”

  – St. Peter Claver

  Peter Claver never returned to his native Spain after 34 years of ministering to the slaves arriving in Cartagena, Colombia from Africa. During the last three years of his life, he was too ill to leave his room or even his bed. Ironically, the former slave engaged to care for Peter treated him very badly, though Peter never complained about being left without food and going unbathed. In fact, he believed that he deserved to suffer for his sins. The people of Cartagena were deeply saddened by the news that Peter was close to death, and many flocked to his home to see him one last time. He was regarded as being holy and saintly in life, and his admirers stripped his room of anything that could serve as a relic. At his 1888 canonization, Pope Leo XIII declared that no life other than Christ’s had ever moved him as much as he had been moved by the life of St. Peter Claver, and in 1896, he named Peter the patron of missionary work among all African peoples.

  “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.”

  – St. Peter Chrysologus

  Fifth century Bishop Peter of Ravenna is perhaps best known for his homilies, a form of sermon he pioneered out of his aversion to boring his listeners. His short, simple inspiration messages earned him the title “Doctor of Homilies.” The Roman Empress Galla Placidia dubbed him Chrysologus, which means "golden-worded," upon hearing the first homily he delivered after being appointed bishop in 433. St. Peter Chrysologus died in his home town, Imola, Italy, in 450 at the age of 44. He was made a Doctor of the Church in 1729, largely because of his homilies on Gospel subjects, most of which have survived the centuries.

  “The hermit's cell is the meeting-place of God and man, a cross-roads for those who dwell in the flesh and heavenly things. For there the citizens of heaven hold intercourse with men, not in the language of the flesh, but by being made manifest, without any clamour of tongues, to the rich and secret places of the soul.”

  – St. Peter Damian

  Peter, born in Ravenna, Italy in 1007, was orphaned as a young child and was taken in by an older brother who treated the boy like a slave and assigned him to tending the pigs. Another brother, the archpriest of Ravenna, stepped in and served as surrogate father to Peter. He sent Peter to good schools and encouraged him in his studies. Peter took this brother’s name, Damian, as his own surname. Peter excelled as a scholar and became a respected professor. Even as a student, Peter lived an austere life to prevent himself from falling into sinful ways. Fasting, watching, prayer, and the physical discomfort of the hair shirt he wore beneath his clothes led him to desire a life of even greater discipline and holiness. Already contemplating a monastic life, he was receptive to the message of two Benedictines he met by chance, and what they told him about their Rule and the way they lived prompted him to join their hermitage. As a hermit, he immersed himself in sacred studies and became the abbot’s chosen successor, which Peter agreed to only after the abbot made it a matter of obedience. Upon the abbot’s death around 1043, Peter governed the community with wisdom and piety and founded five more hermitages over the years.

  “As the soul is the life of the body, so the Holy Spirit is the life of our souls.”

  – St. Peter Damian

  St. Peter Damian would have been content to spend his entire life within the walls of the hermitage he governed as abbot from the time of the former abbot’s death in 1043, when Peter was in his mid-forties. His main responsibility, as he saw it, was to ensure the development of a spirit of solitude, charity, and humility among the members of his community and the five hermitages he founded. But his talents as a negotiator and peacemaker were in great demand by the Popes who reigned during his lifetime. In 1057, Pope Stephen IX prevailed upon Peter to leave his hermitage and become Cardinal-bishop of Ostia, but Peter’s longing for solitude was powerful. He petitioned Stephen’s successor, Nicholas II, to let him retire from his bishopric, but it was Nicholas’ successor, Alexander II, who reluctantly agreed to let Peter return to monastic life with one stipulation—that he could call Peter back if his services were needed. Peter did not return to supervising the communities under his control, living instead as a simple monk.

  “For the wisdom of the flesh brings death, but that of the spirit brings life and peace, since the wisdom of the flesh is the enemy of God; it is not subject to God's law, nor can it be. And since the wisdom of the flesh is unable to bear the yoke of God's law, it cannot loo
k upon it either, for its eyes are clouded with the smoke of pride.”

  – St. Peter Damian

  St. Peter Damian was nearly as active in his retirement as a monk as he was during his years as Cardinal-bishop of Ostia. He wrote prolifically, often sending written rebukes to clergy and Church officials for what he saw as spiritual laxity in the performance of their duties or insufficient discipline in their own lives. For example, he chastised the Bishop of Florence for playing a game of chess and the Bishop of Besancon for allowing the Canons of his church to sing the Divine Office while seated rather than standing. He weighed in against monks traveling abroad and not adhering firmly enough to their vow of poverty and insisted on clerical celibacy. Vehement in his insistence on primitive discipline, he was as strict with himself as he was with others, but he was also quick to praise when he thought it was deserved. Pope Alexander II continued to call on Peter to represent the Church in important matters, such as prevailing on Henry IV, the king of Germany, not to persist in his efforts to obtain a divorce. His last mission for the Church was to travel to Ravenna to deal with its recently excommunicated archbishop and his accomplices in his crimes, though Archbishop Henry died before Peter arrived. Peter was on his way back from Ravenna when he fell ill and died in 1072. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828.

  “Keep your soul at peace, in order to be able to be attentive and very faithful to the inner movement of the Holy Spirit.”

  – St. Peter Julian Eymard

  Peter Julian Eymard was born on February 4, 1811, in La Mure, France. He grew up in a poor family in Europe after the French Revolution, a time when Catholicism was not looked upon kindly.

  His interest in pursuing a religious life was apparent from a very early age. One of the most often repeated stories about him tells of an event that occurred when he was about five. He disappeared from home while his sister was caring for him, triggering a frantic search that eventually took her to the village church. Peter had dragged a small ladder over to the tabernacle and was standing on it with his ear pressed against the door. When his sister asked what he was doing he said, “Listening to Jesus. I can hear him better this way.” As a child, Peter wrote several prayers for different occasions, including this one to be recited after communion: “My dear Jesus, I thank you for the grace which you have given me that you have come to dwell in my heart.” When Peter first told his father of his desire to become a priest, his father was opposed to the idea as Peter was his only surviving son. When Peter did go to seminary, he became seriously ill and was sent home. He tried again after his father’s death and was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Grenoble in 1834, when he was 23 years old.

  “He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant.”

  – St. Peter Julian Eymard

  Peter Julian Eymard started out his ecclesiastical career as a parish priest in 1834 when he joined the Society of Mary and became the Marist’s provincial in Lyon. A growing interest in the Eucharist led him to leave the Marists and establish the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament in 1856, evangelizing among the young and poor workers of Paris. One of his goals was to get lay people actively involved in the life of the Church. The members of the congregation prayed before and guarded the Blessed Sacrament around the clock. The congregation was very poor and had trouble providing consistent food and shelter, which made it hard to attract members, but it continued to grow. Though Father Eymard was in poor health during his later years, he helped Marguerite Guillot, one of the women who came to him for spiritual direction, establish the Sister Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. By the time Father Eymard died in 1868, he had helped many clergy and lay people rediscover the Eucharist.

  “It costs little to tell God we love Him when He is showering favors upon us; it is in the midst of the tempest that we must cry out to Him like Job: "Although He should kill me, I will trust Him.”

  – St. Peter Julian Eymard

  The world might never have known such famed sculptures as Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” if it hadn’t been for the intervention of St. Peter Julian Eymard. In 1862 Rodin was anguished by the death of his older sister Maria from peritonitis. Maria had entered a convent after being spurned by an unfaithful suitor—a man introduced to her by Auguste. In his grief, Auguste joined the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament founded by Father Eymard. It didn’t take long for Eymard, the head of the Congregation, to recognize Rodin’s talent and his lack of suitability for religious life. Eymard encouraged Rodin to return to his sculpting and allowed him to use the congregation’s garden shed as a studio. One of Rodin’s first works was a bust of Father Eymard. After five months in the Congregation, Rodin left and continued his training as a sculptor. A 2017 article quotes Father Eymard as saying to Rodin: “Draw, model, trim, shape… and give the world your soul through Beauty. I am a priest and I do not know how to do it… Some pray and save another person. Others paint, build or sculpt and make others better. Some are roots, others trunks and then there are all those who are branches, leaves, flowers and fruits.”

  “Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day. All your duties will be performed the better for it, and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross. The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you can do nothing that can give greater glory to God or be more profitable for your soul than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly. It is the favorite devotion of the saints.”

  – St. Peter Julian Eymard

  Eymard’s 1962 canonization was later described by the Superior-General of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation as “the most extraordinary of all canonisations in the history of the Church by reason of the attendance of so many cardinals and bishops.” The reason that about 60 cardinals and more than 2,000 bishops attended the three-hour ceremony was that the first session of the Second Vatican Council had just ended, and the attendees were all still in Rome. It was actually a triple canonization, as two contemporaries of Eymard—Anthony Mary Pucci (a Servite priest) and Francis Mary of Camporosso (a Capuchin lay brother)—were canonized by Pope John XXIII during the same ceremony. St. Peter Julian Eymard is often referred to as the “Apostle of the Eucharist.”

  “In visiting the dying we should not say many words to them, but rather help them by praying for them.”

  – St. Philip Neri

  Life doesn’t always unfold the way we expect it to, and that was certainly the case for Philip Neri, born in 1515 in Florence, Italy. Though he received his early education from the Dominican friars in San Marco, he appeared to be headed for a secular career. At 18, he went to San Germano to live with a wealthy family member to work in and eventually inherit the family business. But he had barely gotten settled in when he had a mystical encounter with the Lord that he interpreted as a call to religious life—a call that took him to Rome. In Rome, Philip took a position as live-in tutor in the household of another Florentine. When he was not teaching and counseling his two young charges, he kept to himself and lived an ascetic life, consuming little more than bread and water and spending much time in prayer. He began his studies in theology and philosophy, but after three years, he felt no call to become ordained. Rather, he acted on his desire to help the poor and bring Romans back to the Church.

  “When a man knows how to break down his own will and to deny his soul what it desires, he has got a good degree in virtue.”

  – St. Philip Neri

  Philip Neri had a way with people. He had a knack for striking up conversations and engaging people in discussion wherever he was—on street corners and in public squares, wherever people gathered. He had a pleasant personality and a great sense of humor, and he listened as well as he spoke. People listened to Philip as well, following his lead into service to the poor and sick and into a relationship with Jes
us Christ. He evangelized all over Rome, sharing the Gospel and bringing people into, or back to, the Church. That was Philip’s life by day. His nights were spent praying alone in the church or in the city’s ancient catacombs. In 1548, Philip established a confraternity of laymen, poor themselves, to serve the poor and participate in spiritual exercises. He moved easily among people of all walks of life and developed friendships with Ignatius of Loyola, Charles Borromeo, Pius V, and others of great faith and influence.