Daily Inspiration- 365 Quotes From Saints

by Wyatt North

  “We must pray incessantly for the gift of perseverance.”

  – St. Philip Neri

  Philip Neri’s confessor, who helped him found a confraternity of laymen, finally convinced him that he would be even more effective in his work if he became ordained as a priest, which he finally did when he was 36. He joined the other priests living at San Girolamo where he spent long hours in the confessional, listening and talking to people much as he had while evangelizing on the streets of Rome. So many people came seeking his advice and spiritual counsel that a large room was added to the church to accommodate the crowds. Other priests joined Philip in this “oratory,” and they became known collectively as the “Oratorians.” It would be a few years before the Congregation of the Priests of the Oratory was founded with the mission of helping people develop spiritually. The Congregation was officially approved in 1575 when Philip Neri was 60 years old.

  “Without mortification nothing can be done.”

  – St. Philip Neri

  Philip Neri came to be known as the Apostle of Rome during his later years in recognition of his decades of work bringing lay people into more active involvement in the Church, which had fallen into clericalism. As Philip saw it, far too many clergy spent their time with other clergy and had only minimal contact with the lay people of Rome. Philip, on the other hand, maintained an “open door” policy and was always surrounded by people. Even as his health deteriorated, he was always available to hear their confessions, join people in prayer, and minister to their spiritual needs. Though church and secular leaders relied on him for advice, his first obligation was always to the poor. No one in Rome was better loved or respected than father Neri.

  “He who always acts under obedience may be assured that he will not have to give an account of his actions to God.”

  – St. Philip Neri

  Philip Neri’s health had been slowly declining for a decade when, in 1595, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, his physician told him that he was not well. Realizing that the end was near, Philip maintained his usual routine of hearing confessions and receiving visitors. Taking his leave for the night, Philip said, “Last of all, we must die,” and went to bed. He died around midnight, at the age of 80. St. Philip Neri was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 and is the patron of Rome, the U.S. Special Forces, and of humor and joy.

  “Our Lord loves you and loves you tenderly; and if He does not let you feel the sweetness of His love, it is to make you more humble and abject in your own eyes.”

  – St. Pio

  By the time Francesco Forgione, born in Pietrelcina, Italy in 1887, was five years old, he had decided to dedicate his life to God. He attended Mass every day with his parents and siblings and was an altar server in the parish church. Though his parents were religious and supportive of their son’s desire to serve God, they were poor farmers and needed Francesco’s help. Responsible for tending the family’s sheep and frequently ill, he attended school only sporadically and fell behind his peers. By the age of ten, he had completed only three years of school and was told when he applied to become a friar in a nearby community of monks that he lacked the necessary education. To pay the cost of a private tutor, Francesco’s father sailed to America and sent money home. At 15, Francisco met the requirements to enter the novitiate of the Capuchin friars in Morcone, taking the name Pio, in honor of Pope Pius I. Unfortunately, serious illness forced him to leave the novitiate and return home, though he continued his studies and preparation for the priesthood.

  “Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry”

  – St. Pio

  Padre Pio suffered numerous medical problems throughout his life. He was ordained as a priest in 1910 but remained at home due to his frail health. A few years later, he joined a small agricultural community of brothers, Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary in the mountain town of San Giovani Rotondo, bringing the number of friars there to seven. He was drafted into the Italian Army during World War I but was sent home so often because of illness that he was discharged for medical reasons once and for all after 182 days of service. He returned to the friary where he would spend the rest of his life preaching, providing spiritual direction, and teaching in the seminary.

  “Fear not because God is with you.”

  – St. Pio

  From childhood, Padre Pio had mystical experiences that set him apart from his peers. He reportedly saw guardian angels and spoke with both Jesus and the Virgin Mary. As a young child, he assumed that everyone saw what he saw. He had episodes of ecstasy while praying, and during one of them, according to a fellow monk, he levitated. But what really drew attention to him was the appearance of stigmata on his hands and feet. The wounds were painful but smelled of roses and never became infected. According to the doctors who examined them, the stigmata were perfectly round. He bore his stigmata for the remainder of his life. By 1919, people were coming from far and wide to examine Padre Pio. It was an uncomfortable situation, not only for Padre Pio, who typically wore red or black gloves to conceal the stigmata on his hands when they were bleeding, but also for the Church. The Vatican took steps to keep him out of the public eye and ordered an investigation, which concluded that his stigmata were authentic.

  “We must know how to confide. There is the fear of God and the fear of a Judas. Too much fear makes one labour without love, and too much confidence prevents from considering the danger which we must overcome.”

  – St. Pio

  Though the Vatican originally restricted Padre Pio’s interactions with the public after his stigmata and supernatural experiences attracted widespread attention, in 1934 those restrictions were removed, and Padre Pio was once again allowed to preach. Pope Pius XI went so far as to encourage people to visit him. In 1947, when Father Karol Wojtyla went to see Padre Pio, Pio told him that he would one day become pope—a prophecy that was realized in 1978 when Father Karol became Pope John Paul II. Padre Pio’s rekindled popularity enabled him to raise funds to build a hospital in 1956, in the village of San Giovanni Rotondo, where he had been living in the friary for most of his adult life. When Pope Paul VI reviewed Padre Pio’s case and dismissed any concerns about the authenticity of his stigmata, Pio’s name became known around the world.

  “The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain”

  – St. Pio

  Padre Pio’s health situation had been precarious for most of his life. In childhood he suffered bouts of gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, and many illnesses that were never specifically identified. Though he was cured of cancer after only two radiological treatments, he had numerous other health issues that persisted. He died in 1968, and over 100,000 people came to his funeral. St. Pio was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II and is the patron of civil defense volunteers, adolescents, and the village of his birth, Pietrelcina, Italy. In 2008, St. Pio’s body was exhumed, was prepared for display, and was placed in a crystal, marble, and silver sepulcher in the crypt of the monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo. The body was to remain on display until December 2008, but Church officials had to extend the viewing period to September 2009 to accommodate the more than 800,000 pilgrims who made reservations to view the remains of St. Pio.

  “You are the salt of the earth! You are the light of the world! See to it that the people are edified by your example, by the purity of your lives, by the moderation of your conduct, and the brilliance of your holiness! God does not ask of you mere ordinary virtue. He demands downright perfection!”

  – Pope St. Pius V, to the cardinals

  Pope Pius V began his religious life as a Dominican friar, rose through the ranks of the Church, and headed it from 1566-1572. He is called “The Pope of the Rosary” for his great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and promotion of the Holy Rosary. Specifically, he wrote a papal bull establishing standards for praying the Holy Rosary and established the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary—a feast of Tha
nksgiving for the victory of the Christian fleet over that of the Ottoman Turks during the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Pope Pius V had issued his papal bull two years before the battle for all of Europe to pray the Holy Rosary as instructed in that declaration. On the day of the Battle of Lepanto, he ordered a 40-hour devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he attributed the Christian victory to her intercession. Though far greater in number than the Christian fleet, all but a few of the nearly 300 Turkish ships sank or were captured, stopping further incursion by the Ottoman Turks.

  “We have nothing to say which you have not already heard, no doctrine to propound that is new to anyone; but we treat of matters which it is necessary for everyone to bear in mind, and God inspires us with the hope that our message will not fail to bear abundant fruit.”

  – Pope St. Pius X

  The last will and testament of Pope St. Pius X includes one sentence that illustrates his humility of heart: “I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor." The same quality is recognized in the epitaph inscribed on his tomb in the crypt of the basilica of St. Peter: "Born poor and humble of heart, Undaunted champion of the Catholic faith, Zealous to restore all things in Christ, Crowned a holy life with a holy death." Pius X, born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto on June 2 in 1835 in a small town, was the eldest of the eight surviving children of a cobbler and a seamstress of very modest means. Fortunately, young Giuseppe’s intelligence, character, and academic performance in the parish school impressed the local pastor who arranged a scholarship for him to attend high school, and a few years later, he received another scholarship for the seminary in Padua. Father Sarto was ordained in 1858 at the age of 23.

  “If the Angels could envy, they would envy us for Holy Communion.”

  – Pope St. Pius X

  Father Sarto, the future Pope St. Pius X, began his ecclesiastical career as a curate in the parish of Tombolo, where he spent eight years working tirelessly with the poor, setting up a night school for adults, and training the parish choir. His pastor wrote these prophetic words about Father Sarto: “They have sent me as curate a young priest, with orders to mold him to the duties of pastor; in fact, however, the contrary is true. He is so zealous, so full of good sense, and other precious gifts that it is I who can learn much from him. Some day or other he will wear the mitre, of that I am sure. After that—who knows?"

  “Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven.”

  – Pope St. Pius X

  When Sarto became Bishop of Mantua in 1884, anti-Church sentiment among secular authorities had created a laxity among clergy, especially younger priests, and seminary enrollment had plummeted. Such problems affected the laity as well, spreading religious indifference and secularism. Bishop Sarto sought to remedy the situation and reform the diocese, beginning with the example of his own zealous teaching to energize the clergy. When he became Cardinal and Patriarch of Venice in 1893, he continued to put great emphasis on the development of clergy, the education of the young, and help for the poor. He supported the newly formed Workingmen’s Society and saved the diocesan newspaper from bankruptcy. He saw spiritual problems and social and economic problems as inextricably intertwined. Sarto was, much to his surprise, elected after the death of Leo XIII and became Pope Pius X in 1903.

  “God being infinite beauty, the soul united to Christ draws upon himself the admiring and tender gaze of the Angels, who, were they capable of any passion, would be filled with envy at his lot.”

  – Pope St. Pius X

  Pope Pius X announced that the aim of his papacy was to “restore all things in Christ.” The two means to accomplish this restoration were things he had emphasized throughout his career: development of a trained and disciplined clergy and the religious instruction of young and old. He also instituted important reforms regarding Holy Communion, which earned him the nickname, “The Pope of the Eucharist.” He instituted several reforms to promote Catholic social action, maintaining that prayer alone would not Christianize society, but he is perhaps best known for his vigorous opposition to Modernism, which he believed would destroy the foundation of faith. Pius X died of influenza shortly after the outbreak of World War I, and the humble parish priest was canonized in 1954.

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  Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved.

  – St. Robert Bellarmine

  When Pope Clementine VIII made Robert Bellarmine a cardinal, he said it was because Bellarmine was unequalled as a scholar. Born in Montepulciano, Italy in 1542, Robert Bellarmine entered the Society of Jesus at age 18, was ordained, and spent the next couple of decades teaching and writing before becoming Provincial of Naples in 1594 and Cardinal in 1598. He continued his scholarly activities in his austere quarters in the Vatican, expounding on subjects that tended to stir up controversy. He not only provided evidence as to why the theory of the divine right of kings was untenable, but also theorized that the pope had indirect power over temporal affairs, which made Bellarmine rather unpopular among royalty. In 1616, Bellarmine was required to deliver an admonition on behalf of the Holy Office to his friend, Galileo, for his support of the Copernican theory of a sun-centered solar system. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine died in 1621 but because of the controversial nature of some of his writings, he was not canonized until 1930—more than 300 years after the process was initiated. He was named a Doctor of the Church the following year.

  “Where sin was hatched, let tears now wash the nest.”

  – St. Robert Southwell

  St. Robert Southwell is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales who were unjustly executed for treason between 1535 and 1679. The statute of 1585 had made it an act of treason to be a Catholic priest and administer the sacraments in England. Southwell was born in England, educated and ordained in Italy, and came back to England when he was 25, the year after the statute was enacted, knowing that his work as a priest would have to be clandestine. He escaped English authorities for six years until he was arrested in 1592 and held prisoner until he was tried on February 20, 1595 and sentenced to death. He was martyred the next day, at the age of 33, by hanging, drawing, and quartering. St. Robert Southwell was canonized in 1970, along with the 39 other martyrs of England and Wales, by Pope Paul VI.

  “After prayer, on working days, I must go presently about some work or exercise that may be of some profit, and of all other things take heed of idleness, the mother of all vices. Towards eleven (if company and other more weighty causes will permit) I may meditate a little and call to mind how I have spent the morning, asking God grace to spend the afternoon better.”

  – St. Robert Southwell (from his handbook, A Short Rule)

  St. Robert Southwell was not only a Jesuit priest and one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, but he was also a talented poet and writer. Literary scholars identify Southwell as one of the influences on the work of William Shakespeare. He wrote prolifically during his six years as an underground Jesuit priest in London after the statute of 1585 made it treasonous to be a Catholic priest and administer the sacraments. In Southwell’s time, his writing was very popular. He wrote A Short Rule to provide guidelines for laypeople trying to lead devout lives. The principles he espoused were based on the principles of religious life in monasteries and convents.

  "Judge! I cannot give up my God. He is the Creator and Father to all of us. He loves virtue and punishes sin, so how could I abandon Him? Harming others is also a sin. A long time ago I decided to shed my blood for these truths. Do as you please."

  – St. Rosa Kim

  Kim Rosa was a 55-year old Korean convert to Catholicism when Cho-Pyong-ku took control of the Korean government. He hated Catholicism, which had already been banned by the king, and within a month he issued a decree to eliminate Catholicism from Korea. Kim Rosa and eight other Catholics already imprisoned because of their faith became the first victims of the purge. In 1838, the year before Cho Pyong-ku issued his edict, Kim Rosa was arrested in the middle of the
night, dragged from her home by the police, and thrown into prison. She did not waver in her faith, even when the instruments of torture that would be used on her if she continued in her refusal to deny her God or to reveal the names of other Catholics were displayed in front of her. The judge had her tortured and then sentenced her to death. The sentence was not carried out until July 20, 1839, two weeks after Cho-Pyong-ku issued his edict to destroy Catholicism in Korea. Kim Rosa was canonized in 1984 in Seoul, Korea by Pope John Paul II.