Every Psalm is the voice of the Church

"Any part of the Scriptures you like to choose is inspired by God. The Holy Spirit composed the Scriptures so that in them, as in a pharmacy open to all souls, we might each of us be able to find the medicine suited to our own particular illness.

Thus, the teaching of the Prophets is one thing, and that of the historical books is another. And, again, the Law has one meaning, and the advice we read in the Book of Proverbs has a different one.

But the Book of Psalms contains everything useful that the others have. It predicts the future, it recalls the past, it gives directions for living, it suggests the right behavior to adopt. It is, in short, a jewel case in which have been collected all the valid teachings in such a way that individuals find remedies just right for their cases.

It heals the old wounds of the soul and gives relief to recent ones. It cures the illnesses and preserves the health of the soul.

Every Psalm brings peace, soothes the internal conflicts, calms the rough waves of evil thoughts, dissolves anger, corrects and moderates profligacy.

Every Psalm preserves friendship and reconciles those who are separated. Who could actually regard as an enemy the person beside whom they have raised a song to the one God?

Every Psalm anticipates the anguish of the night and gives rest after the efforts of the day. it is safety for babes, beauty for the young, comfort for the aged, adornment for women.

Every Psalm is the voice of the Church." --Commentary on Psalm 1, by St Basil the Great

Oración por la santificación de los sacerdotes

"Oh Jesús, Pontífice Eterno, Buen Pastor, Fuente de vida, que por singular generosidad de tu dulcísimo Corazón nos has dado nuestros sacerdotes para que podamos cumplir plenamente los designios de santificación que tu gracia inspira en nuestras almas; te suplicamos: ven y ayúdalos con tu asistencia misericordiosa.

Sé en ellos, oh Jesús, fe viva en sus obras, esperanza inquebrantable en las pruebas, caridad ardiente en sus propósitos. Que tu palabra, rayo de la eterna Sabiduría, sea, por la constante meditación, el alimento diario de su vida interior. Que el ejemplo de tu vida y Pasión se renueve en su conducta y en sus sufrimientos para enseñanza nuestra, y alivio y sostén en nuestras penas.
Concédeles, oh Señor, desprendimiento de todo interés terreno y que sólo busquen tu mayor gloria. Concédeles ser fieles a sus obligaciones con pura conciencia hasta el postrer aliento. Y cuando con la muerte del cuerpo entreguen en tus manos la tarea bien cumplida, dales, Jesús, Tú que fuiste su Maestro en la tierra, la recompensa eterna: la corona de justicia en el esplendor de los santos. Amén." -- S.S. Papa Pío XII

The Holy Spirit - bond of love of the Holy Trinity

"O Holy Spirit, God of love, bond of love of the Blessed Trinity, You remain with the children of men and find Your delight in them, in that holy chastity which under the influence of Your power and attraction, flourished on earth like the rose among thorns. Holy Spirit! Love! Show me the way that leads to this delightful goal, that path of life that ends in the field made fertile by the divine dew, where hearts burning with thirst may find refreshment. O Love, you alone know this road which leads to life and truth. In You is consummated the wonderful union of the three divine Persons of the Holy Trinity. The most precious gifts are diffused in us by You, O Holy Spirit. From you come the fertile seeds which produce the fruits of life."

-- St Gertrude the Great

Facing Life

"Endure! In the first place through good sense and sound philosophy. What is the use of rebelling? In any event, we must accept what comes. Events dominate us; we are not the masters of them. To recriminate, to sigh, and to protest are ineffective actions. 

Endure! Through a supernatural spirit, because our crosses unite us to our Lord's Cross. God sends or permits to identify ourselves with His Son, Moreover, even humanly speaking, suffering well accepted makes us mature; it demands rare virtues. As long as a man has had nothing but happiness, he does not know of what he is capable, just as we do not really know what the sound of the bell is as long as the clapper has not struck it. But let sorrow come upon a man, then he can divine what he is capable of doing. When the soul is fortified by divine motives, it can reach that summit which humanity can reach in the way of moral uplift. For the sons of men as for the Son of Man, the highest royalty comes from the crown of thorns. 

Endure! Through charity for all your brethren. While it permits us "to complete that which is wanting in the passion of Jesus Christ," suffering gives us a most efficacious role int he redemption. To act safely; but to suffer, how much more! The great instrument of salvation is the acceptance of the cross on which one is to be nailed. If we had more often present in our mind the sufferings of all our brethren scattered throughout the world, how much more cheerful would we be in accepting the many myseries which assail us!" -- Some Rare Virtues by Raoul Plus, SJ

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

"O eternal Trinity, You are a deep sea in which the more I seek the more I find, and the more I find, the more I seek to know You. You fill us insatiably, because the soul, before the abyss which You are, is always famished; and hungering for You, O eternal Trinity, it desires to behold truth in Your light. 

You are the supreme and infinite Good, good above all good; which good is joyful, incomprehensible, inestimable; beauty exceeding all other beauty; wisdom surpassing all wisdom, because you are Wisdom itself. Good of angels, giving Yourself with fire of love to men! (...) Clothe me, O eternal Trinity, clothe me with Yourself, so that I may pass this mortal life in true obedience and in the light of the most holy faith with which You have inebriated my soul." -- St Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church

Love Him who is loved so little

"If Jesus Christ has performed so many prodigies to induce us to love Him, what favors will He not confer on those whom He sees eager to testify to Him their gratitude and their ardent love? He has loved us tenderly, says St Bernard, and He has lavished His blessings on us when we did not love Him, even when we did not wish Him to love us. What gifts and graces will He not pour out on those who love Him and who are grieved at seeing Him so little loved?" -- The Devotion to the Sacred Heart by Fr John Croiset, SJ

The call to holiness

Holiness is not a luxury. It is not the privilege of a few, something impossible for the normal person. [Holiness] is the common destiny of all people called to be children of God. It is the universal vocation of all the baptized."
-- Pope Benedict XVI