“The wish to pray is a prayer in itself.”

“A Christian people doesn't mean a lot of goody-goodies. The Church has plenty of stamina, and isn't afraid of sin. On the contrary, she can look it in the face calmly and even take it upon herself,...”

“O miraclethus to be able to give [peace] we ourselves do not possess, sweet miracle of our empty hands!”

“We pay a heavy, very heavy price for the superhuman dignity of our calling. The ridiculous is always so near to the sublime. And the world, usually so indulgent to foibles, hates ours instinctively.”

“The usual notion of prayer is so absurd. How can those who know nothing about it, who pray little or not at all, dare speak so frivolously of prayer? A Carthusian, a Trappist will work for years to...”

“Teaching is no joke, sonny! ... Comforting truths, they call it! Truth is meant to save you first, and the comfort comes afterwards. Besides, you've no right to call that sort of thing comfort. Mig...”

“One of my confreres sketched an explanation that attracted me: since the process of digestion is under the control of the brain, its cessation gave repose to the brain, allowed it a vacation.”

“God has made the Universe and all that is in it, can He ever fail to give us anything that we ask of Him today?”

“It seems to her [Saint Catherine of Siena] that the devil has this world in his power, not by his own will, for he is powerless, but through our help because we obey him. The evil aroma rising from...”

“Happiness is not only a hope, but also in some strange manner a memory ... we are all kings in exile.”

“Since God lives in the heart, I was not to seek some Being way up in the sky . . . my journey to God was not outward, but inward! The only way to get closer to God was to become ordered enough insi...”

“What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.”

“The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”

“And while I may get hurt, disappointed, or frustrated [], my foundation doesnt have to change.”

“Its important to take Gods love personally, though it may not be an easy thing to do. Sure, God loves the world, but he also loves each one of us individually.”