“Don’t wince under the hammer that strikes you. Have an eye to the chisel that cuts you and to the hand that shapes you. The skillful and loving Architect may wish to make of you the chief stones of his eternal edifice and the fairest statues in his kingdom. Then let him do it. He loves you. He knows what he is doing. He had had experience. All his blows are skillful and straight and loving. He never misses, unless you cause him by your impatience.” St. Louis de Montfort
Inspirational thoughts
Too busy to pray?
“Today’s society does no pray. That is why it is falling apart.” St. Padre Pio
Nothing is impossible to God
“There is nothing impossible to God.” St. Rita
Sounds of silence
“Settle yourself in solitude, and you will come upon God in yourself.” St. Teresa of Avila
Marathon training
“A marathoner is a marathoner regardless of time. Virtually everyone who tries the marathon has put in training over months, and it is that exercise and that commitment, physical and mental, that gives meaning to the medal, not just the day’s effort, be it fast or slow. It’s all in conquering the challenge.”
-Mary R. Wittenberg, former president, New York Road Runners
public opinion
― Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Getting it done
“There is one thing, Emma, which a man can always do if he chooses, and that is his duty; not by manoeuvring and finessing, but by vigour and resolution. – Mr. Knightley”
― Emma by Jane Austen
Death
“A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well — or ill?” — East of Eden by John Steinbeck
God’s loving plan
“Come what may, I am bound to think that all things are ordered for the best; though when the good is a furlong off, and we with our beetle eyes can only see three inches, it takes some confidence in general principles to pull us through.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters
Prayer time
“Contemplation is nothing else but a secret, peaceful, and loving infusion of God, which if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the Spirit of love.” St. John of the Cross