p. 75Mottoes, Maxims, and Resolutions for Frequent Consideration

1. The religious who does not make progress in perfection goes backward. What was thy object in entering religion? What didst thou then wish?

2. The religious who mingles in things foreign to his duties neglects himself and his duties.

3. A religious cannot serve God without mastering himself.

4. How can a religious die in the Lord, if in life he did not labor for God?

5. Neither speak nor curiously inquire about what concerns thee not.

6. He serves not God who seeks consolation in the religious state.

7. Woe to the religious who is ill-tempered among the pious.

8. He who loves poverty possesses all things. Of worldly things choose the worst, and of heavenly things the best.

9. He is not poor who does not wish to feel the effects of poverty. To have the name of being poor and, at the same time, to enjoy the comforts of wealth is to deceive men.

10. He is not chaste who does not flee the occasions of impurity.

11. He is not obedient who, whilst exteriorly submitting to orders, contradicts, murmurs and criticises.

12. It is better to bear an injury in silence and without murmur than to fast several days till evening.

13. The supposition that in another convent, under another superior, among other companions, in another employment, in other circumstances, one would make greater progress and be better satisfied, has already deceived many. Some in a few years have tried every kind of change consecutively, without becoming better, more happy or more contented. God has placed us where we are; let us remain where we now are until it shall please Him to call us away. Where in the world is there a rose without thorns?

14. A religious should love what worldlings hate.

15. The life and example of the clergy and of religious is life or death to the laity.

16. He does not lead a spiritual life who does not strive to shun venial sin.

17. The devil hunts and attacks vigorously the slothful religious.

18. That religious is not yet dead to the world, who is greatly concerned about his relatives and friends in the world.

19. The devil plays hand-ball with a vain and unmortified religious.

20. No one is more happy under the sun than the religious who loves God, his superior and his cell.

21. The religious who strives after perfection should willingly and fervently embrace all that is painful, burdensome and disagreeable, all that requires combats, self-restraint and self-denial. He should, indeed, prefer these to all that is agreeable to the sensual man. He should never hearken to the seductive voice of nature, but always follow the inspirations of grace leading to life eternal.

22. Only he who is a slave to his inordinate inclinations and lacks a childlike confidence in God, becomes uneasy and impatient when he meets an obstacle. Thou shalt live uneasy as long as a single evil inclination or desire reigns in thee, although all the others had already been overcome.

23. He who does not hearken to his superior as to God’s representative will not be recognized by God as His child.

24. No one can be crowned in religion until he has lawfully combated.

25. He who wishes to reform others without first reforming himself undertakes a fruitless task.

26. I shall be a true child of my Order as long as I am candid and sincere towards my superior.

27. I will not be ashamed of being looked upon as striving after true devotion and spiritual perfection.

28. I will never bother myself about offices that may be later intrusted to me, but will abandon myself to God’s designs, and put my trust in Him alone.

29. I will withdraw myself from creatures and seek God, and I shall surely find Him.

30. I will cling to no creature; I will rely on no one, save on God and my superiors.

31. If I do not become holy whilst I am young, I shall never become so.

32. When my superiors give me a command, I will never inquire wherefore.

33. I will follow the Community and avoid all singularity.

34. I will in all things act in opposition to the maxims of the world.

35. I will hold that spiritual things and the practice of virtue are of greater importance than skill and other natural gifts.

36. If I am not well versed in prayer and meditation, I shall never live tranquilly in my state.

37. I will not be ashamed to put into practice all I learned in the noviciate.

38. I will be as careful of the honor of my Order as any one can be of his own.

39. He who wishes to be a child of Mary and of his Order should preserve his chastity.

40. If the good name of thy Order is dear to thee, observe faithfully its discipline and be devoted to its honor, and when it is time to speak, speak on spiritual subjects.

41. Beware of being a burden and a cross to thy superiors or to any one else, but strive to give pleasure to all.

42. In my Institute I will consider myself as a beggar admitted out of charity; I will look upon as a favor all that is done to me.

43. What doth it avail me to live long in my Order if I do not attain its object and end?

44. In the observance of my rule and the fulfilment of my resolutions, I will pay no heed to what others may say.

45. I will at all times walk in the strait way, without heeding what others may say.

46. It is easier to engage in spiritual discourse with a few than with many; but we should not do this with always the same companions, but at one time with one, and at another time with some one else.

47. When I commit a fault deserving of punishment, I will humbly ask for a penance.

48. I will choose a day in every month on which to read over my resolutions and renew myself in spirit.

49. I will go every week to my superior to give an account of three things: whether I kept silence, whether I discoursed on spiritual subjects, whether I have kept my resolutions.

50. I will rather let my health suffer than wilfully transgress, or fail to keep without dispensation, a constitution or a rule.

51. I will endeavor to consider God in the person of all my superiors.

52. I will be faithful especially in spiritual things: e.g., in making meditation, the examinations of conscience, spiritual reading.

53. I will not be ashamed to avail myself of every occasion to speak on spiritual subjects, and for this I will willingly go with the simple and the less refined.

54. In the convent I am not the master, but the servant of all, and in this should my honor and glory consist. For how should I wish to rule, since Jesus Christ came, not to be served, but to serve us, and the Blessed Virgin called herself only the handmaid of the Lord.

55. Why, O my soul, dost thou do what thou shalt later repent of in thy cell?

56. If thou wishest to know whether thou lovest thy vocation, examine whether thou lovest mortification. Thy vocation is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and how canst thou be His disciple, if thou dost not wish to be crucified with Him?

57. I will spare no effort to maintain a constant peace and interior joy.

58. The renunciation of self-love is a mortification, by virtue of which thou actest, not as thou likest either interiorly or exteriorly, but only according to the good pleasure of God and of thy superiors.

59. Obedience consists in the union of our will with the divine will, and in performing what God inspires us to do.

60. There is hardly a rule without exception; but this one has none, “Nothing is comparable to God.”

61. The world is nothing to him to whom God is everything.

62. The time misspent during prayer is taken away from God.

63. We offer sufficient atonement for our sins, if we perform all our actions with the intention of pleasing God; in this there is great perfection.

64. The great progress of the soul in virtue consists not in thinking much on God, but in loving Him much.

65. Blessed is he who loves without desiring to be loved; blessed is he who serves and does not desire to be served.

66. He who wishes to enjoy peace and tranquillity should hold everybody else to be better and more pleasing to God than himself.

67. Meekness is a sure sign of innocence kept or recovered.

68. Those who are devoted to piety and frequent the sacraments, but do not perform the works of faith and charity, are like trees in blossom, which are expected to produce as many fruits as they have blossoms; but what happens?

69. In order to be humble not in word only, but in heart also, it does not suffice to assert that we deserve contempt; no, but we should rejoice also when others despise us. Thou art not yet humble, if thou dost not patiently bear disdain and contempt.

70. God imposes the greatest trials on those He loves most.

71. He who endeavors to lighten the Lord’s yoke, renders it only the heavier; and he who tries to make it heavier, renders it only the lighter.

72. Precipitateness and restlessness do not contribute to the success of a good work. To desire its success is good, but it should be without anxiety.

73. God occupies Himself with me, as if I were alone in the world. It is also meet that I should occupy myself with Him, as if besides Him there were nobody and nothing in the universe.

74. Meditate often on the passion of Jesus Christ, thy King. He endured torments only to win thee and thy heart.

75. Be truly humble, and thou wilt never think that any injustice is done to thee.

76. Do not imagine that thou hast made any progress in perfection, if thou dost not consider thyself the least of all.

77. He has only the appearance of humility who, though he humbles himself, cannot bear to be humbled by others.

78. To be humble and devoid of merit is a necessity. To be humble and possessed of some merit is praiseworthy. But to be humble whilst possessing great merits is true and genuine humility.

79. If thou wishest to learn and know something very useful, learn and love to be unknown and to be considered as nothing.

80. He who attentively considers his sins and faults, and what he was and is before God, looks upon human praise as scorn and mockery.

81. On the feasts of the saints meditate on their virtues, and beseech God to impart them to thee.

82. The most secure and ordinary road to holiness is that of suffering.

83. When thou crossest a street, reflect that thou art not a painter nor a teacher of drawing.

84. What thou dost not want God to see, do not do; think not what thou dost not want Him to know, nor say what thou dost not wish Him to hear.

85. A true servant of Jesus Christ suffers patiently, speaks little, works much for Jesus Christ, and considers it a great gain if, without any fault on his part, he has to suffer something.

86. We complain of our sufferings; we should have greater reason to complain, had we nothing to suffer, for nothing renders us more like Jesus Christ than to carry our cross.

87. Do not complain of pains, sufferings, and adversity before casting a glance at thy crucifix and thinking on the twofold eternity.

88. He makes the greatest progress in religious life and virtue who manfully strives to overcome whatever he finds most difficult and disagreeable.

89. Incense emits no odor nor ascends upward, unless it burns; and it is in suffering that we prove our love of God and our fidelity to Him.

90. The road to the Mount of Olives is steep indeed; but the Mount of Olives is also the Mount of the Ascension. Those who suffer with Jesus Christ will be also glorified with Him.

91. Suffer with Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ, and for the love of Jesus Christ. Christ wished to suffer and to be despised; and thou wouldst yet complain!

92. Do not divide thy heart, giving one part to God and the other to the world. Thou canst not serve two masters. Moreover, such a division would be unfair and unjust, since God justly demands and deserves thy whole heart.

93. When we have once so far progressed as no longer to seek any human consolation, we then begin to relish spiritual and heavenly things.

94. We should not imagine we are able to please everybody.

95. We should expect a just return, not from men, but from God alone.

96. We should observe in our neighbor only his virtues and advantages, and in ourselves only our faults and imperfections.

97. He who severely judges his own deeds, finds no reason to condemn others, but is inclined rather to excuse them.

98. Do not easily excuse thyself; of thyself say nothing praiseworthy, nothing derogatory; the former is vanity, and the latter seldom sincere.

99. Set thy hands to work, and turn thy eyes towards the grave, towards heaven and God.

100. If thou wishest to live in great tranquillity and true peace, thy most ardent desires should be to see God in the next life, thy greatest fear to lose Him, thy most bitter pain not yet to enjoy Him, and thy greatest joy all that can lead thee to Him.

101. Free thy heart from all that is created and seek God alone, and thou shalt find Him.

102. Severity towards ourselves should render us more meek, indulgent and affable towards others. The most wicked are the severest judges of the conduct of their fellow-men; this arises from malice, or hypocrisy, or a false zeal. We naturally judge of others by ourselves.

103. If our neighbor’s act has one hundred sides, we should always look at it from its most favorable side. When the sinfulness of an act no longer admits of vindication, we should at least seek to excuse it and admit that the intention was good. But if this is impossible, we should at least make allowance for the violence of the temptation, for the ignorance, impulsiveness or human frailty of the one who committed the fault.

104. The evil-doer cannot condone his own fault in others; he sees it clearly enough to blame it in others; but he is blind to it in himself and too weak to extirpate it.

105. Great wisdom and well-grounded humility consist in having a low opinion of one’s self and a good and exalted opinion of others.

106. We should flee nothing more carefully than sloth, sadness and dangerous familiarities.

107. To bear cheerfully, gratefully and lovingly the daily little inconveniences that are inseparable from our vocation, is a constant and most profitable exercise of mortification.

108. We cannot live on earth without adversity. If we possess interior peace, we meet with exterior trouble. If we have nothing to suffer externally, our interior is a prey to sadness, discouragement and anxiety. If God consoles us, the evil spirit in a rage harasses us with temptations. If the devil does not molest us, God withdraws His light and consolation from us. And when there is nothing else to disturb us, we give ourselves no rest and are troubled by our own fancies.

109. Do not fear God if thou canst love Him; but that thou mayst love Him, fear Him.

110. He who seeks to attain interior quiet and recollection should so conduct himself, as if he had no eyes to see, no ears to hear. Whatever God has not prescribed to him, he should consider as no concern of his. He should especially avoid occupying himself with the actions, the manners, the conduct, the faults and imperfections of others.

111. He who performs more than he ought, performs less than he ought.

112. I will consider and employ each day as if it were my last; one day shall surely be my last; but which one?

113. On judgment day we shall not be asked what we have read and spoken, but what we have done; not how beautifully we have spoken, but how piously and purely we have lived.

114. Attend to thyself. What others do is no concern of thine. Follow Jesus Christ.

115. Thou art as great and as good as thou art before God; neither more nor less.

116. Beware lest, on account of thy negligence, God take away from thee the tenderness of thy conscience, and leave it insensible in thee.

117. Nothing is more precious than the love wherewith thou mayst purchase heaven. It is the greatest waste and folly to love what is transitory, or even sinful.

118. Shun what displeases thee in others, but imitate what pleases thee in them.

119. It profiteth me nothing to gain the whole world at the risk of my soul.

120. Thy spiritual progress is in proportion to thy self-denial.

121. Act like a tender mother towards others, but like a severe judge towards thyself.

122. “Never omit to overcome thyself at any cost. Keep thy passions under restraint, and often choose what is most opposed to sensuality. Above all, overcome thy natural ambition, and do this unsparingly. Do not rest or quit until thou hast rooted out of thy heart all pride, and not only willingly suffer thyself to be placed below every one, but also rejoice at the contempt shown thee; for rest assured that, without this humility and self-denial, thou canst neither make any progress in virtue nor prove useful to thy neighbor and pleasing to God” (St. Francis Xavier).

123. I will often and unceasingly have recourse, in all humility and unlimited confidence, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the source of all graces and the model of all virtues, and also to the immaculate and loving heart of Mary, through whom chiefly all heavenly blessings flow to us.

124. With the utmost fervor I will venerate the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and my guardian angel.

125. I will often during the day raise my heart to God by short and fervent aspirations and the renewal of a pure intention.

126. I will most carefully abstain from judging others and mingling in their concerns. What I cannot excuse I will compassionate, considering my own weakness and sinfulness, and saying a Hail Mary for the amendment of the culprit.

127. I will always speak to every one in a friendly, respectful and humble manner.

128. There rained no manna so long as the flour from Egypt lasted; that is, God gives us no interior consolations, unless we mortify our flesh.

129. Those who wish to do what they ought not, shall have to do later what they wish not.

130. When Jesus Christ withdraws from me and leaves me without consolation, I will not allow my heart to be disturbed, for He will come again. But I will constantly look for Him, and when the world or the flesh assails me, I will exclaim: “Lord, whither shall I go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

131. He who is or, at least, strives to become perfect, rejoices over that which causes displeasure, vexation and sadness to the tepid and imperfect.

132. My soul, what doth it profit thee to be loved by men, if, like Pilate, thou losest the friendship of Jesus Christ on account of that love?

133. Our Lord Jesus Christ, though aware of the excessive weakness of His body, nevertheless took up the cross; and thou, my soul, through pusillanimity, refusest to take up the prescriptions of obedience. Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus Christ to carry His cross, and Jesus Christ Himself will help thee to carry thine, if only, for His sake, thou courageously takest it up.

134. Jesus Christ, the world, Satan and the flesh are seeking me; but none of them can find me, unless I will it. If the world, Satan and the flesh find me, they will, like famished lions, devour me. Jesus Christ alone will make me happy, if He finds me. O sweetest Jesus, I will that Thou shouldst find and possess me. If Thou findest me, I shall find Thee and this will suffice for me.

135. If thou canst not meditate on sublime mysteries, reflect on the passion of Jesus Christ, and rest willingly in His sacred wounds.

136. He who diligently considers our Lord’s life and passion will find in abundance therein all that is useful and necessary for his spiritual life.

137. I will carefully consider what I have to do, and not what others are doing.

138. Accustom thyself to excuse others out of true charity, and to be thoughtful of their welfare in all things.

139. Why dost thou wish to see that which has no value in thy eyes? Modesty of the eyes preserves from many sins and is the mother of piety.

140. The best means of acquiring self-mastery is to renounce thy judgment and thy self-will. “Let him that wishes to follow Me,” says Christ, “deny himself.”

141. The renunciation of one’s judgment consists in the mortification of every opinion that accords not with the divine will and the judgment of reasonable men.

142. He that does not highly esteem prayer, cannot long remain in the spiritual road. Prayer is opposed to Satan; hence he does all he can to prevent it.

143. Self-contempt is the shortest way to perfection and the beginning of great peace of mind.

144. Be but little and be small in thy own eyes, and desire to be also thus considered; and when thou art so treated, be not sad, but rejoice.